White Light
by the-vampire-act
Summary: *Amazingly NOT slash* The case gets personal when Reid realizes he has a personal connection to the team's newest case in Las Vegas. But what will happen when something happens and freaks Spencer out?
1. Homecoming

**"...Yees, I have returned! Hopefully updates will be pretty basis, but who knows? :) *smirks. R&R...? Oh, and I wasn't going to post this so soon, but I realized that CM WAS NEW TONITE and just had to!**

White Light- Prologue

Homecoming

16 Years Ago...

The young child read the letter, heart-broken over every single word of it. It didn't make sense to him; how could his own father write such horrible and hate-filled words? His shaky hands dropped the letter as he stumbled down his mother's staircase. He barely even recognized that he was walking; his mind seemed to be in a daze that he couldn't fight. As much as it scared him, it numbed his thoughts and protected it from the letter. As he walked out of his house, he started crying, realizing that he should have realized his father felt that way about him a long time ago.

Dear Son ,

I thought you should know that I never loved you- never planned on having you. It wasn't my idea to have a child, and it wasn't my idea to keep that child. I couldn't stay and live in a house with someone I hated. It had nothing to do with not loving, well, you know who. I will always love them, but I could never love a monster like you. You ruined my life, and for that I will never forgive you. Do the world a favor: disappear, forever. And, if you are as smart as everyone thinks you are, you'll know just what I mean.

-Your Loving, Caring Father

Present-Day

"Children between the ages of eleven and seventeen are 'committing suicide', at least one a week. Local authorities have reason to believe that our UnSub has been killing for a while. They managed to trace back at least 10 other children between this age range who fit the same victimology as the other children." JJ started.

"What's the victimology?" Reid asked.

"Each child has been a reported prodigy in advanced classes at the same schools. They each only have one parent, and they have all been through mandatory therapy- either from their school to make sure the children are stable enough to handle the expectations of their school or from court therapy." JJ answered.

"In other words, to see how well they are handling the divorce?" Morgan asked. JJ nodded in clarification.

"Well, we're lucky that the local police were smart enough to realize that these weren't suicides and that they needed help. Chances are that we're dealing with a pedophile who gets off on death." Hotch commented.

"JJ, where is the case?" Prentiss asked, suddenly realizing that she never had said. When he eyes quickly darted to Reid, she had a feeling she knew the answer.

"The kids who are supposedly killing themselves are from Spence's old school district- Las Vegas Public High and Las Vegas Middle School."

Reid let out a sigh and rested his head against the table. He should have known that he had gone to long without a case becoming personal and dangerous for him.

"Reid, if you want to stay back, no one would think any less of you..." Morgan hinted.

"No, I want to work the case. I'll be fine." he said as he raised his head.

"Are you sure-" Hotch started, but Reid stopped him.

"I'm not a child, Hotch. I really do appreciate how protective this team is of me, but I need to be able to treat cases that may become personal to me just like everyone else on the team does. Please, I think I've earned the right to be treated like an adult." Reid replied, toward the end looking accusingly at Morgan, who gave his 'pretty boy' a small smile.

"Well, I apologize." he smirked. Reid gave him a similar smile before looking back toward his case file.

Hotch allowed himself a brief smile as he took in one of the many precious moments that he got to witness with his team. Every case, they became even more connected and even more family-like. It was one of the few aspects of his jobs that he still loved, and he savored the moments like this.

"Wheels up in 20." Hotch finally said, back to 'team leader' mode. After an understanding nod from the teams, they stood up and went to gather their things, ready for a new case.


	2. The Usual 'Storyline'

**"…I am upset. FanFic keeps screwing up the little image of my profile pic on my story page and it won't let me open over half the stories on the CM archieves! ;( I hope you guys like the story! R&R…?"**

White Light- Chapter 2

The Usual 'Storyline'

The team landed in Las Vegas a few hours later. As soon as they reached the station, they were given a place to set up and greeted by the police force. With grim looks on their faces, they retired smaller details of the case to the BAU team.

"The victims are all young children who excel in school. All A's, skipped grades, advanced classes- the usuals. All of them received a letter convincing them to commit suicide." The deputy said. "We need to find the sick bastard who's doing this before he hurts another kid."

"That's why we're here." Hotch nodded. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to have one of your cops join my agents at the crime scenes. We need to go back over the scenes to look for more information that we can use to help shape a more accurate profile. While my agents do that, I want the BAU team liaison to help handle the press."

"Sounds like a plan." Deputy Aisley nodded. "I'll send Greg Maeyers out with your agents."

"Thanks." Hotch nodded.

Aisley motioned for a black-haired officer to join their gathering, and he introduced the man as Greg. With a curt nod from the officer, Greg and Hotch left to the crime scene….

~* WL *~

Reid and Prentiss visited the latest crime scene with Greg and Hotch. While Greg and Hotch processed the evidence and started gathering information about the victim, Prentiss and Reid focused on the crime through the UnSub's point of view.

"It's going to be harder to build a profile than usual." Hotch explained as Greg asked why they were going to about the investigation so differently. "The crime scene only consists of a dead child and whatever the child touched. That's why we need more than just a crime scene."

"What else do we need?" Greg asked.

"We need to get inside the child's mind- think like he did, react the way he did." Reid answered. "We have to find out how the UnSub knows these children."

"Wait, so he knows his victims?"

"Of course." Prentiss nodded. "He knew they were going through counseling because of their parent's divorce, knew they were smart, and probably knew a lot more than that as well."

"We've gotten all we needed from here." Hotch said as he stood up. "Let's go back to the station and put everything together. After Morgan and Rossi come back from the morgue, I'm going to send Reid and Greg to the child's house."

"So you're going to gather everything you can first before you come to a conclusion?" Greg guessed. "Will that help build a more accurate profile?"

"Yes, it will." Hotch nodded. "In this case, there's little to go by from the crime scenes, and the information we have gathered may be taken different ways. In order to understand what each piece of evidence means about our UnSub's character traits, we have to have more to go on."

"All right." Greg nodded. "I think I'm starting to get this whole profiler thing." Prentiss smirked at that.

"Come on, let's go back to the station."

Hotch and Prentiss headed back to the first SUV, and Greg and Reid hopped in the second one. With a final nod from the profilers, they left the crime scene….

~* WL *~

Greg and Reid knocked on the door of the victim's house, both of them a little on edge. They both hated cases involving children, and trying to calm down the victim's parents wasn't very fun either.

"How can I help you?" a petite brunette sniffed from the doorway.

"Hi, my name is SSA Spencer Reid, and this is Greg Maeyers. We're working the case-"

"Involving my child. Yes, I've heard about the BAU's entrance on the case." She nodded. "What can I do to help?"

"We need to see you son's room, if you wouldn't mind. We're looking for anything that could tell us more about how the man who did this could have contacted him- maybe from a school event, online, or maybe not at all. With your permission, we'll search his room to find that information out." Greg explained.

The mother seemed doubtful, but she shook her head. "If it'll help find out who took my son away from me, yes. His room's on- was on the second floor, first door on the right."

"Thank you." Reid nodded. "You're doing a great job helping your son and all those other children's parents have closure. You're doing the right thing."

"T-thanks." The shaken mother sighed. "I needed to hear that."

With a sad smile from Reid, Greg and himself walked up the staircase and into the child's room. The two young men scanned the room, looking for any obvious signs of trouble.

"Dinosaurs…. books…. posters…pictures…." Greg droned. "Nothing here screams suicidal to me."

"Just the usual storyline." Reid mumbled.

"Meaning…?"

"This child isn't suicidal, that much we can establish. Something pushed him, though, and we need to find out what that is. It seems most likely that the UnSub might have actually told the child to commit suicide. Assuming this, the UnSub is someone important to the child, and he will do anything to please him." Reid explained.

"Or the kid thought the UnSub was someone important to hi." Greg sighed. "Come here; we've got a letter." The cop carefully picked the letter up and passed it to read, who quickly read the letter.

"This is it." Reid nodded. "This is how the UnSub targets his victims."

"Yeah, and I bet that if we go back to the other victims' houses, we'd find the exact same letter."

"You're right; this is the UnSub's signature. Good work."

"Tell that to my supervisor." He smirked.

"Well, I'm sure he all ready knows that." Reid smiled.

"Yeah, well, he doesn't take well to the skinny jeans or jet black hair, if you get my drift." Greg sighed. "He says I need to look more professional, but I told him this was Vegas; a cop dressed like a teenaged punk was to be expected." Greg and Reid shared a quick laugh before heading down the stairs with straight faces and the letter in hand.

"Did you find anything?" the mother asked hopefully.

"Yes, we did actually" Greg nodded.

"We found a letter addressed to you son, and it was signed in his father's name. It… it says that he should kill himself because he's such a disappointment." Reid said.

"No, Daniel wouldn't have done that. He loved his son!"

"Loved…?" Greg asked.

"Well, yes." The mother nodded. "Daniel died shortly after we divorced. It was part of the reason why my son, Davis, was in therapy for so long."

"When exactly did he die?" Reid asked.

"About six months ago. Why?"

"He couldn't have written this letter, than." Greg replied. "This letter was written less than a week ago."

"How can you tell?"

"It's not faded yet, for one thing, and someone used a fountain pen to write this. Fountain pen ink would have smudged a little after a few weeks, but these letters are still perfectly crafted." Reid said.

"And the less complicated answer is that your son would have almost immediately committed suicide upon reading this letter. There was no way he would have just held on to it for so long without acting upon it."

"So my husband didn't do this, right?"

"Your husband's innocent." Reid reassured.

"I never thought he wasn't, to be honest." She sighed. "Is there anything else you need?"

"No ma'am. That would be all."

"Well, all right. I'll… I'll show you to the door, then." She nodded. "If there's anything I can do, just let me know, all right?"

"Of course." Reid nodded. Greg waved good-bye and the woman and followed Reid out the door. Just as he was about to say something, Reid's phone started ringing.

"Hotch, what is it….? Of course; we'll be right there." He sighed.

"What is it?" Greg asked.

"They found another body."

"…**.You should know that I didn't purposely try to rip off Greg of CSI, but I think I kinda did. I decided to name him Greg, and it all went kinda downhill from there. Whoops. Also, sorry for all the dialogue, but there really was no other way for me to get all that info out any other way ;( Things get interesting in the next chap. Hehehe….R&R….?" **


	3. Anxiety

**"…I'm really liking this story ;) You should all know that I just posted a preview to my next new story (should be up soon) called Stranded in the Desert. Thnx for reading everyone! I love you all…!"**

White Light-Chapter 3

Anxiety

"Her name is Katelynn Michelle. She was found in the bathtub with the water filled to the brim and a toaster that was plugged into the socket in her hands." Prentiss said as Greg and Reid joined the group at the victim's house. "The bathroom's upstairs; Hotch and Rossi are in there right now."

"Thanks." Reid sighed. He hated that there was a man killing children who were just like him in his hometown. That struck a nerve for him, and he was honestly starting to regret not taking Hotch's offer to stay off the case.

Greg seemed to have noticed Reid's distress, and he put a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to go up there."

"I do." Reid shook his head. "I appreciate that you care, honestly, but this is something that I have to do."

"Understandable." Greg nodded. With a sad smile, he started walking up the stairs. "So I heard you were some kind of genius, just like these kids. Maybe we can use that to our advantage…"

"Oh yeah? How?" Reid asked, his eyebrows raised.

"You can relate to these kids. You know how hard it would be for them to find someone to trust. I doubt they would confine in other kids, and I think we both know that if they had everyone in their school would know what they had discussed." Greg explained.

"So either the children talked to an adult or a kid. Either way, someone else other than their therapists could tell us something about the person in the letters." Reid nodded.

"Other than the therapist?"

"Yeah." Reid nodded. "Do you honestly think they would tell the therapist a secret they didn't want their parents to know? I know I never would have."

"You're right." Greg agreed. Then, he smirked a little.

"What?" Reid frowned.

"Look at us- we haven't known each other a day and we're all ready cracking this case. Damn, where's my supervisor when I need him?" Reid shared a quick laugh with Greg before they walked back into the crime scene.

"Oh my…" Greg whispered as he walked into the room. The site was horrible. Katelynn lay in the tub wearing a white dress and a red ribbon in her hair. Her eyes were open and staring right at them. Her nails were painted an aged red color, and her hands were burnt to a crisp. Greg couldn't take the image, and he fleeted from the room. Reid let out a shaky breath as he watched the man run from the room. In all honesty, he badly wanted to join the man. He knew he couldn't, though, so he sucked in his gut and joined the two older men.

"This is pretty bad." Hotch sighed. "The other victim poisoned themselves; Katelynn went to the extremes to kill herself."

"She's also younger." Reid nodded. "I heard that she was in the 9th grade, which also makes her smarter. Chances are she still wasn't developed emotionally, though. There's no way she could have handled it as well."

"Hey guys, we found a letter." Morgan said as he joined the group.

"Greg and I found one earlier, too." Reid nodded. "It's part of the UnSub's MO. He contacts the victim's through that letter and says that he's either the mother or the father, whichever the child seemed to prefer to say with during the custody battle. This makes me think that he's talked to the children before, like a trusted teacher. It wouldn't be the therapist, though."

"Why not the therapist?" Rossi asked.

"These kids are smart; they know that the therapist will tell their parents' what's wrong with them. They want to keep that a secret, and if they did tell a teacher, they probably think that would keep it a secret." Morgan supplied.

Morgan walked over to the body for the first time, and he cringed when he saw the damage that was done. Shaking his head, he got back up to his feet and stood next to Reid. He put a hand supportively on his younger friend's shoulder, knowing that the case had to be taking a toll on him. Everyone in the room noticed the action, but no one chose to comment on it. Instead, Hotch cleared his throat and got his team's attention back.

"We should head back to the station." He said. "We can discuss the case and put everything we have together and then head back to the hotel rooms." With a series of nods, they all started walking toward the door, but Reid hesitated. He glanced behind him one last time before shutting the door behind him.

~* WL *~

A few hours later, the team dragged themselves out of the police headquarters and into their SUVs. They had all ready made a rough profile of their UnSub and the victimology, but there was nothing else they could do until they had no information.

"Hey Pretty Boy, you bunking with me?" Morgan asked.

"Don't I always?" Reid mumbled.

"We can switch it up if you want…"

"No, I didn't mean it like that." Reid sighed. "I'm just….tired." Tired was an understatement. He felt dead on his feet, and he was almost positive he looked that way, too. Morgan chuckled before racing up to Reid's side. He dug his fingers into his hair and playfully messed up his less than perfect hairstyle.

"Yeah, I couldn't tell." He smirked.

"Jerk." Reid hissed.

"Leave Spence alone." JJ glared. She inserted herself between Reid and Morgan and started fixing the poor boy's hair. "Don't worry; we're almost inside." Reid just nodded and kept walking forward.

Finally, the team separated into their hotel rooms and prepared for a restless night of sleep. Morgan made fort in the bed closest to the window, while Reid took the closest to the door. While Morgan entered the shower, Reid quickly stripped his work clothes off and donned a pair of too-big sweat pants and a form-fitting shirt. He cuddled underneath the blankets and closed his eyes, but he still couldn't sleep.

'I wonder if Greg's okay.' He thought. 'He seemed pretty upset after seeing that girl…then again, we all were….'

"Hey, mind thinking a little quieter? I can practically hear your mind mumbling incoherent words over here." Morgan joked.

"Sorry." Reid sighed. He turned over in his bed and inwardly moaned. He knew that sleep wouldn't come easily tonight, and he wished that there were something he could do to change that. He was flat-out exhausted, but his thoughts kept rambling on in his head and he couldn't control them.

Morgan knew that the case was really starting to get to Reid, and as he tossed and turned in his bed, he knew there was something specifically that was bugging him. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to sleep until he knew that Reid was okay, he sat up in his bed and called out to Reid. The younger man immediately sat up and gave Morgan his attention. "What's eatin' you, man?"

"The same thing that's 'eating' everyone else." He sighed. "I'm fine Morgan, honestly."

"Pretty Boy, you don't look or sound fine. Now stop lying to me and tell me what's really bothering you."

"It's nothing Morgan." Reid glared. "I'm just as 'okay' and 'fine' as you are."

Morgan huffed at that. "This is your hometown, _Spencer, _not mine. Cases in Chicago always hit me a little harder than the rest. Now tell me it's not true for you and Las Vegas!"

Reid was taken aback by the use of his first name, but he quickly recovered. "I think we should go to bed." He spat back. Then, he collapsed onto the bed and hid under the sheets. As childish as he knew he looked, his intention was to sleep under the sheets all night anyways, not to hide from Morgan. He was freezing, despite the heat of the Nevada desert-area. He almost felt the need to explain that to Morgan, but he decided against it last minute. Instead, he curled into himself and shivered, silently wondering why he was crying.

Morgan watched as Reid's form shivered underneath the blankets, and he frowned. Something was up with him, but he now knew better than to pry. Instead, he shoved his own blankets aside and wiped sweat from his forehead. As he closed his eyes, he was only slightly aware of the silent sobs coming from the other side of the room.

~* WL *~

Spencer woke up the next morning in a cold sweat. He was still freezing, of course, but now he was sticky as well. He moaned tiredly as he escaped the tangle of blankets he was trapped in and less than gracefully walked into the bathroom. His eyes darted to the mirror, where a sticky note laid in waiting on the glass.

_Reid, _

_The Unsub contacted us. Hotch called us in. I told him you weren't feeling well so don't worry about it. I'll call you later to catch you up. _

_-Morgan_

_PS- Oh, and your dad called. You should call back- it seemed urgent. _

Reid groaned as he read the letter. He didn't want to talk to his father, but if it was urgent, he knew he'd regret it later. For a brief second, he contemplated throwing it away and telling Morgan that it must've flown off, but he thought better of himself and decided to make the phone call…. after an extremely hot shower, that was.

Reid quickly grabbed a sweater vest and a white long-sleeved button-up and headed toward the bathroom. He threw the clothes down on top of the bathroom counter and started running the hot water. Just as he started to take off his pajama shirt, an image caught the corner of his eye, and he turned around. He gasped as he realized that he had just seen a person- a child, more accurately. As he turned around to face the child, his jaw hung open and his eyes became more wide than usual.

"Hello Spencer." Katelynn Michelle smiled.

**"….No, Spencer is not the ghost whisperer ;) hehehe….Now, am I mean for ending it there or what? Thnx for reading; hope you liked it…!"**


	4. Dead and Delusional

"…I wanted to have this up Wednesday, but that didn't work. Oh well. R&R if you're still out there and reading…!"

White Light-Chapter 4

Dead and Delusional

_Just as he started to take off his pajama shirt, an image caught the corner of his eye, and he turned around. He gasped as he realized that he had just seen a person- a child, more accurately. As he turned around to face the child, his jaw hung open and his eyes became more wide than usual._

_"Hello Spencer." Katelynn Michelle smiled._

"Katelynn?" he whispered.

"No, not really." She sighed. And as fast as she had appeared, she disappeared.

Spencer looked around the room. 'Where is she…? Was she actually there?' Quickly, Spencer dashed to his bedside and grabbed his gun. He checked every section of the hotel room, but he still couldn't find her. Sighing to himself, he put his gun away, realizing that he had probably overreacted. He checked the hotel room one last time, though, just to be safe. After one more once-over, he tried to convince himself that he had just fallen to sleep and started back to toward the shower again. He stripped down to nothing and hopped into the hotel shower again.

After about forty-five minutes, Spencer came out and quickly dressed himself. Putting on his favorite shirt, purple with a gray tie with his entitles embroidered at the tip- a present from his mother from last Christmas- and donned a pair of gray pants. After finishing up his hair, he reached for his cell phone and dialed Morgan's number.

"Hey there." A smooth voice said from behind Spencer. The young man gasped and immediately turned around. He saw the child smile widely at him, and he nearly dropped his phone.

"Hey kid, feeling better? You seemed pretty upset last night…" Morgan said.

"Uh, no, not really." Spencer stammered. "I have a splitting migraine. Do you think Hotch will mind if I drop out for the day?"

"Hotch just asked me to call you, actually. He said that he wanted you off for the day after I told him about last night. Er, well, not exactly about last night, but-"

"I know." Spencer nodded. "I'm sorry about blowing up at you. I was just upset and feeling pretty bad. At least I know why now."

"All right." Morgan sighed. "Hotch will most likely stop by, just to let you know. He wants to check you up while Prentiss and I go over a few more things. Think you'll be up to it?"

"Uh, yeah." Spencer nodded. He knew that he probably sounded distracted, but he was distracted- _very _distracted. His eyes were glued on the mischievously smiling little dead girl sitting on his temporary bed. She waved to him and laughed a little. Spencer turned around and tried to focus back on the phone.

"All right. Get some sleep, okay?"

"Oh, trust me, I will be sleeping." Spencer smirked.

"Glad to hear." Morgan smiled. With that, he hung up. Spencer flipped his phone shut and turned his head back to the dead girl.

"I can't believe I'm saying this to a dead girl, but I think we need to talk." Spencer sighed. The little girl nodded her head before sitting down on his bed. She smiled at Spencer and waited for him to join her. Spencer reluctantly sat down next to Katelynn and waited for her to start talking.

"You're hallucinating."

'No duh!' Spencer hissed in his head.

"Watch it." She glared. "I'm apart of you; of course I know what you're thinking."

"Right of course." Spencer nodded. "But why are you here?"

The little girl frowned at him and scooted closer to him. "I was hoping you could tell me." She whispered. She was going to continue, but a knock on the door interrupted her. She silenced herself and laid low in a corner. Spencer looked at her as if to ask her to go away, but she just shook her head. "I'm apart of you. I go where you go."

"Fine, just…just stay there, I guess." Spencer mumbled as he walked toward the door. He knew that Hotch was going to be stopping by, but he had never expected him to stop by so soon. Shrugging it off, he opened the door.

"Spencer, do you mind if I come in?" a shaky voice asked. Spencer frowned at the unexpected guess, but he nodded his head anyways. Something was definitely bugging him, and he had a feeling he knew what it was.

"Of course, come in Greg." Spencer let Greg push pass him and into the hotel room. He motioned for him to sit down before sitting opposite of him.

"I'm sorry to intrude; I know that you aren't feeling well…"

"No, it's okay. I was getting kinda bored around here, actually. Feels like I'm going to lose my mind." Spencer joked. Katelynn smirked at that.

"It's just…. last night." Greg sighed. "Katelynn Michelle. She was so young…. so smart! She didn't deserve what happened to her, and we both know it. She had her whole life ahead of her; she could have made a difference in the world…"

"And you were just like her." Katelynn said, filling in the blanks. Spencer turned to look at her but stopped himself when he realized Greg wouldn't be able to see her. Instead, he cleared his throat and voiced what Katelynn had said.

"And you were just like her." Spencer supplied. Greg looked up at Spencer, a tear in his eye. "I was too, Greg. I was just a little boy growing up in a Las Vegas public school with an absentee father and a mother who on a good day remembered to get out of bed. I was just like her, too."

"How do you not let it get to you?" Greg asked miserably.

"It gets to me, Greg, it always will." Spencer sighed. "But it's how you use your relation to her that matters. I use it to get inside her head and figure out how she thinks. It's hard to relate to the victim, but it's even harder to relate with the UnSub. But in both cases, you can't let your feelings tie you down. You have to use them to help solve the case, not create a bias." Spencer put a sympathetic hand on Greg's shoulder as the cop wiped away a few stray tears. "It sucks, I know that, but you have to view it as making yourself better at the job." He had remembered Morgan saying those exact same words to him as comfort, and after he had time to think about what Morgan was really saying, he truly appreciated the gesture. He only hoped that Greg would be as understanding as he was…

"I know." Greg finally responded. "It's just…. I don't know. I've seen dead children before, but none like this. I guess I just wanted to talk about it."

"That's fine." Spencer nodded. "I understand how hard this can be, trust me. If you need to talk, just stop by, okay? And if you can't get out of the office, here's my number. Call me anytime."

Greg gratefully accepted the number and placed it in his pocket. "I really appreciate this, thanks." Suddenly, Greg's cell phone started vibrating, and he pulled it out of his pocket. He quickly read the message before standing up. "They found another body. I have to go."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, I can tell that you're still not feeling well. Stay here a rest; we're going to need you refreshed and renewed for tomorrow." Greg waved goodbye at Spencer and left the hotel room.

Spencer waited for Greg to leave before turning his attention to Katelynn. The hallucination remained straight-faced as it stared back at him.

"You're welcome."

"Yeah, thanks." Spencer muttered. He groaned as he picked up his phone again. He punched in the familiar number, but his finger hesitated over the 'send' button. He felt Katelynn sneak up behind him, reading the number in her head before commenting.

"Call him, you know it's important."

Spencer turned his attention back to Katelynn who was currently frowning at his intensely. He glanced from her to his phone before flipping it shut and back into his pocket. When her frown increased, he shrugged his shoulders. "If you are apart of me, you should have seen that coming."

"Your daddy issues aren't the problem right now." She glared. "You need to figure out why I'm here."

Spencer studied the child for a moment. "You know why you're here, don't you?"

"I told you all ready; I have no clue why I'm here."

"Oh yeah? Well, why do I get the feeling you're lying to me?"

The girl smiled at him before letting out a half laugh- half huff. "Because I'm still technically apart of you. Figure it out Spencer; you've always been good at puzzles." When Spencer didn't respond, Katelynn sighed and pointed to the bed. "Go sleep. Maybe that'll help clear things up." Spencer raised his eyebrows at her, but she only shook her head in return. "I'm apart of you Spencer, you need to learn how to trust me."

"How could I trust someone I didn't know?"

"By taking the damn nap and shutting up." She glared. Finally, Spencer gave in and sat back down on his bed, still wary of the hallucination. She lay down opposite of him and turned her head to look at him. He glanced back at her, realizing that she had all ready fallen to sleep. He closed his eyes, not expecting to actually fall to sleep, before he even realized he had just done that exact thing.

"…**. Hope you guys like Katelynn, because she's not going anywhere! Oh, and neither is Greg. ;) Thnx for waiting everyone! Hope you liked it..!" **


	5. Phone Calls

"….And no, Spencer will not wake up to discover it was all a dream ;) Sorry, not this time…!"

White Light- Chapter 5

Phone Calls

Spencer woke up to the sound of his cell phone beeping. He groaned before picking up the device and throwing it against the wall. Suddenly realizing what he had just done, he exasperatedly got himself out of the bed and picked up the damned piece of the modern age.

"Apologize, Spencer." Katelynn glared from the bed.

He turned around, his eyes wide. "It's a _phone; _I'm not talking to my phone! I'm not crazy!"

"Says the man talking to the hallucinated dead girl." She muttered.

Groaning loudly, Spencer placed his phone down gently and said, "I'm sorry, phone." The action earned a smile from the girl, and he only glared in return. Staggering to his suitcase, he picked up his purple scarf, a plain white button-up, and a sweater vest. He lifted up his shirt, which was now stained with sweat and wrinkly, in favor of the fresher ensemble. Feeling Katelynn eyes on his, he turned around before taking the shirt off all the way.

"You can't possibly be self-conscious around me, can you?"

A few seconds later, Spencer turned around in his sweater vest and scarf. He just glared at Katelynn and picked up his messenger bag. "Please, try not to distract me while I'm working. I have to find out who's killing these kids!"

"Spencer, you all ready know who it is!" Katelynn yelled back.

"Then tell me, who is it!"

Katelynn glared at Spencer before standing up to get closer to him. "You still don't get it, do you?" she huffed. "I thought you were a genius!"

"I'm not arguing with you right now!" he hissed. Before Katelynn could respond, Spencer slammed the door shut behind him and left the hotel room.

~* WL *~

Aaron Hotchner sighed as he watched his youngest agent walk into the police department. He knew Reid needed to rest still, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. Instead of pointlessly arguing with him, he gestured for Reid to 'come here' and waited for him to tiredly make his way over to him.

"The newest victim is Abigail Mettle. Greg and Prentiss found the same letter found at the other scenes. You and Greg were right; this had to be someone the children knew personally. The letters weren't mailed; they were hand delivered." Hotch briefed Reid on the rest of the case, but before he dismissed him, he frowned at Spencer and asked him if he was feeling better.

Spencer nervously danced on his heels, avoiding eye contact with Hotch. He looked around the room before noticing the lack of Katelynn's presence. Ignoring the fact for now, he cleared his throat and nodded his head. "I feel a lot better than last night, but I'm still not one-hundred percent again."

"If you start feeling worse, tell me immediately and sit out for a while, okay?" Hotch said sternly.

"Of course." He nodded.

"I want you to visit the crime scene with Greg and Morgan. After that, we're going to finish the final touches of the profile and deliver it in the morning." With a dismissive nod from Hotch, Reid walked back out to the parking lot where Greg and Morgan were waiting. He quickly hopped into the back seat next to Greg, who offered a small smile, and let out a deep breath as Morgan started driving.

"Feeling better, Pretty Boy?" Morgan asked, his voice sounding more than serious.

"Pretty Boy?" Greg smirked, earning a playful smack from Reid. Greg quickly changed moods, though, and he became just as concerned as Morgan.

"I'm better than last night." He smiled. He wasn't lying, either. He was hoping that Katelynn had finally gone away, even if he did doubt it. Whatever he had done, he was glad he had. Seeing a victim- a child victim, nonetheless- following him around had really scared him at firs, and his mind had started to jump to unnecessary conclusions.

Another thought occurred to Reid as they drove off, and he assumed that his facial expression showed that as Morgan and Greg turned around to look at him, eyebrows raised.

"Got an idea?" Greg guessed.

"Uh, not exactly… My father called. I forgot to call him back." Reid dismissed.

"Oh, well, you can call him back now. You can catch up with us after you figure out what's up." Greg suggested.

"No, that's okay-"

"Reid, call your dad." Morgan glared. "He needed to talk to you about something important; I could tell!"

"Fine." Reid muttered, pulling his phone out of his pocket. Greg raised his eyebrows at Morgan; silently asking him what was up. He mouthed a 'later', and Greg nodded in understanding. He had known that his father was a touchy issue for Reid, but he knew now that there was a little more to it than he had originally though.

"Hey dad. You called earlier...?"

"Yeah. I heard you were in town, and I was wondering if I could talk to you about something over lunch if you could get away for a few hours…. or after your case ends, I guess." William replied. Even to Reid's ears, he could tell that Morgan was right. Something was definitely on his father's mind, and although he was still mad at him, he had a feeling this was a talk he couldn't afford to miss.

"Um…Of course. I don't know when we'll finish up, but we've made quite a lot of progress. I'll call you back later on and we could arrange something." Reid agreed.

"Good." William nodded. "I'll…I'll see you later." he added. "Catch the guy's who's doing this to these kids; I know you can."

"I hope you're right." Reid sighed. With that, he hung up. Reid quickly stuffed his phone back in his pocket and scrambled out of the car to catch up with Morgan and Greg. When he entered the room, Morgan gave Reid his 'we're going to talk about that later' look, but dismissed it for now. Instead, he focused back on the latest victim- Benjamin Riley. The boy hand strangled himself with fishing rope in the middle of his room, he dark brown hair now lay haphazardly over his pale white face on his bedroom floor. A letter had already been found.

"Benjamin was always a quiet kid." A woman in the corner of the room sniffled. "I never thought he was capable of this, though. He was so brilliant. God... I can't believe he's gone!"

Greg frowned as he approached the woman. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and escorted her out of her son's room. "Ms. Riley, I know how painful this must be…"

Spencer lost Greg's voice as he drifted out of the room, but as he bent down beside the young child, he gulped. These children hadn't done anything wrong. They didn't deserve to die like that…

"You okay, kid?" Morgan asked.

Reid stood up and nodded. "Yeah, I'll be okay." He looked around the room, trying to distract himself from his growing emotion, when something caught the corner of his eye. He walked toward the piece of paper and turned it over it his gloved hands. Realizing that it was a vital clue, he held it out to Morgan. "I think we're ready for a profile…"

~* WL *~

William Reid hastily walked into the Las Vegas police station with his briefcase in his hand. He hastily opened the doors and looked for the person he had came to see. Quickly, he ran over to catch his attention, only to be greeted with a frown and an arched eyebrow.

"Mr. Reid, your son isn't here right now…"

"I know, Agent Hothcner. I didn't come here to see him. I came here to protect him."

"… **Horrible cliffie. I bet you all know where this is leading to! BTW, you don't actually know, cuz I'm about to turn things around again! Hehehe…. You should know that in a chapter or two, things are going to get pretty intense for Reid, and the focus of this story is really going to shift to him even more. Thnx for reading; hoped you liked it…!" **


	6. Of Lies and Revelations

"…**Things get pretty intense! EEK! Thnx for reading everyone…! Also, you should know that this is pretty OC heavy for me- I will have two OC's as pretty major characters: Greg and someone introduced later..." **

White Light-Chapter 6

Of Lies and Revelations

_Mr. Reid, your son isn't here right now…"_

_"I know, Agent Hothcner. I didn't come here to see him. I came here to protect him."_

Hotch frowned. He knew that he shouldn't be surprised, though. His youngest agent seemed to always get in trouble when the team went to Vegas- hell, when the team went anywhere…

"Mr. Reid, if you think Reid could be in trouble-"

"Agent Hotchner, I may have abandoned Spencer when he was a kid, but I know my son. I'm _certain _he's in trouble." William glared. Finally, Hotch nodded and motioned for William to follow him into a more private room. He brought two chairs up to the table in the small office they were in, and he sat down opposite of William Reid. Once they were settled down, Hotch cleared his throat and leaned closer to William.

"Why do you think your son is in trouble?"

William reached underneath the table for the suitcase he had brought with him and sat it on the tabletop. Reaching inside it, he brought out an aged letter and passed it to Hotch. The agent raised his eyebrow as he examined the letter in William's hand before tentatively taking it from him.

"Read it." William instructed. Hotch nodded his head and carefully opened the letter.

_Dear son,_

_I thought you should know that I never loved you…. _

~* WL *~

Spencer, Greg, and Morgan left the Riley household with the new evidence in their hands. They quickly walked back into the police building, feeling a little better now that they had a new lead.

Spencer turned over the evidence bag in his hand, carefully reading the note over and over something wasn't adding up…

"What's up, Spencey?" Greg frowned. Reid looked up, slightly taken aback by the new nickname. "I didn't think of it; Garcia did." He added.

Nodding silently to himself, Reid tried to carefully avoid the question he had just been asked. Although he knew that he would eventually have to share what he just found, he decided it was best to keep it to himself and try to figure out if it was true or not before worrying the team.

Spencer looked at the photograph of all the victims so far, two other children, and a brunette woman standing in between them. He studied her dark hair, her tanned skin, her auburn eyes- she looked so familiar! The young profiler was sure that he had seen her before, but from where…?

Cautiously placing the thought aside, he turned the picture over to the writing on the back:

'_We'll all miss you, Ben! I hope things start turning around for you. Call anytime- we'd love to hear from you.'_

_-Annabelle Gradley _

'Annabelle…' Spencer thought. He was sure he had heard that name before- positive of it now. Until he could figure out from where, though, he kept his mouth shut and passed the picture to Greg.

"This proves that the UnSub knew the children. We'll check into Annabelle Gradley, but I highly doubt it's her. And besides, there will only be two more victims, but now, if we can find out who the other two people are in this picture, we might possibly be able to stop him." Reid quickly explained.

"Why do you think she's not the UnSub?" Greg asked.

"It's not in the profile." Morgan answered. "We profiled a white man who makes these children kill themselves as a sexual release. He probably watches them, too." He added. "A woman UnSub would have kidnapped the children, treated them as her own, and killed them when she was ready to move on."

Greg nodded in his seat before shifting his attention to Reid, who was staring out the window obviously lost in thought. He sighed as he watched Reid. He wanted to say something to him- it was obvious something was bugging him- since he had been so understanding about his issue with the crime scenes, but he knew he shouldn't. Reid obviously wasn't a touchy-feely guy, and he could respect that.

Morgan looked at Greg through the mirror in the front seat. He knew that he wasn't the only one who knew Reid was hiding something, but they both knew better than to pry. So instead, Morgan placed his foot on the gas petal and drove to the police station once again.

~* WL *~

"The letter came in the mail a week before I left." William Reid explained as Aaron Hotchner put the letter on the table. "I didn't write that letter."

Hotch inwardly sighed as his eyes danced from William to the letter. It was obvious to both of them that the UnSub had in fact written the letter, but there were still some gray areas that Hotch had to address before admitting that the letter was connected to the case.

"Why didn't you give this to the police immediately?" Hotch asked.

"They would have tried to pin it on me- say that I was a psychopath who came forward to the police with it so they would think I didn't do it." William admitted. "And if they did start a formal investigation, they would have had to came to the house…"

"And they would find out you were going to leave your son with a schizophrenic who obviously couldn't take care of him." Hotch nodded, filling in the blanks. Even if he didn't agree with what William had done, he could understand the need to keep what he had done from the police.

"They would have put Diana away, and if it was after I left, Spencer would have more than likely been forced into an orphanage. I wasn't going to let that happen." William sighed. He picked up the letter again, turning it over in his hands. "I want to find who did this, who tried to hurt my son."

"We will, Mr. Reid, but first, I need you to answer to more questions." Hotch pressed.

"Right, right…. of course." William nodded. "What do you need to know?"

"Do you know if Spencer ever went to therapy, most likely for the separation?" Hotch asked.

"Diana didn't believe in therapists- or doctors, for that matter. I wanted Spencer to attend therapy because of how he was treated in school…and the situation at home, I suppose, but she wouldn't have it." William shook his head. "There's no way he went to therapy."

Hotch nodded in response. Spencer was more than likely the UnSub's first attempt; he probably hadn't realized yet that it would be easier to establish trust with him and then send him the letter in person. That was probably why he wanted to develop the new MO- he needed to make sure that it was the kid who got the letter, not the parent.

"I have one more question, and then we can start building a profile of the UnSub." William nodded and signaled for Hotch to go on. Hotch leaned in closer to William; this was going to be a difficult question to answer, and he had a feeling a difficult question to hear the answer to. He knew he had no other choice, though, so he took a deep breath before looking William in the eye and opening his mouth. "Do you think Spencer was capable of committing suicide?"

There was no hesitation in William Reid's voice as he leaned back in his chair, his eyes closed and a tear running down his eye.

"Absolutely."

"… **This seemed like a good place to end it. I was going to add another scene, but it would have made this another major cliffie, and I thought I'd give you guys a break from that. Oh, and I lied. ***_**Spoiler: **_**Katelynn's not coming back. I kinda screwed up how I wanted her to be for a later scene, so I have to dump her and make anew. ;) Thnx for reading; hope you liked it…!" **


	7. Absolutely

"**Things get rather interesting! Thnx for reading everyone! And hopefully I will have my new story 'Stranded in the Desert' up by the end of the month. Also I have a new poll up if you're interested…"**

White Light-Chapter 7

Absolutely.

The blunt answer had caught SSA Aaron Hotchner off-guard. As William Reid admitted to him that he thought his son was suicidal at one point in his life, his voice distilling a mixture of emotions, something bordering absolution and knowing, Hotch realized at that exact moment that his youngest agent had tried to kill himself when he was a child. He sat up a little straighter and neatly tucked away the file-sized list of questions he still had for William about Reid. He had promised that there were no more questions; the least he could do was keep to his word.

"If you'll excuse me, Agent Hotchner, I have to go back to work." William said shakily. He stood up on unstable legs and watched as 'Agent Hotchner' did the same. With a dismissive nod from the other man, William brushed against Hotch on his way out. His hand hovered over the doorknob, though. He quickly snapped his head around as pulled the door open. "Don't tell my son."

"I am legally obliged to keep this conversation between us. You came forward with information about our case, and even though the statue of limitations is up, you're still a 'witness'." Hotch nodded.

"Good." With that, the door slammed shut.

~* WL *~

Aaron Hotchner walked out of the office a few minutes after William had. He came out just in time to see his youngest agent walk back inside the building with Greg and Morgan. He had noticed his two agents, especially Reid, who had a tendency to try and avoid the local police, had taken a liking to the goth-like agent. He wasn't sure if it was because of Greg's age or because of some other matter that he hadn't been informed of yet. Either way, he was glad that Greg and Reid seemed to be 'hitting it off'.

"Reid, did you guys find anything?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah, actually." Morgan nodded.

"We found a common link between all the victim- a picture of them all in what is most likely a support group. Everyone that was hit was in the picture as well as some other children and an adult- an Annabelle Gradley." Greg added. He turned to Reid, he then passed the evidence bag to Hotch.

"He left the group, probably after he started to cope with his parents' divorce better." Reid said. 'There's a note on the back saying that he would be missed and instructions to stay in touch."

"She's not our UnSub, but she will be able to help us find the UnSub." Hotch nodded. "Good work."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to search for the girl with Reid. We both grew up in Vegas, and I'm certain that we'd have a better chance of finding her….with help of Garcia, that is." Greg asked. Hotch seemed taken aback by how uncomfortable Greg was in front of him, but he nodded his head anyways.

"You're right; call Garcia and have her help. We need to find Gradley. Morgan, I want you to stay back and help with profile." Then, he turned back to Reid and Greg. "Call as soon as you find anything at all. Are we clear?" Hotch stressed.

Reid raised his eyebrows; of course he would tell him if they found anything! Why would he ever think otherwise…?

"We're clear, sir." Greg nodded, obviously terrified of Hotch now. Greg quickly patted Reid's shoulder with his right hand and motioned for him to follow him out the door, which he practically ran to. Reid glared at Hotch before turning around and following the officer.

Once the two younger men were out of sight, Morgan turned to Hotch and mimicked Reid's glared. " 'The hell was that? What aren't you telling us?"

Hotch looked around the room cautiously before turning his attention back to Morgan. He just shook his head and passed him a case file. "Get back to work," was the only instruction he was given before his superior.

Prentiss watched the scene with concern, and when Hotch walked away, she came out of her 'hiding spot' and joined her teammate. "What was that about?" she asked, her voice low so she wouldn't be overheard.

Morgan had started flipping through the file before Prentiss had joined him, and now, as she stood next to him, he groaned and passed the file to her. She immediately took it from his hands, and when she saw its contents, she grimaced. It was another letter, just like the other ones the victims had received, but at the end, it was signed 'William Reid'.

~* WL *~

Greg dialed Garcia's number as he sat opposite of Reid in the black SUV. He waited for the peppy voice to answer, and when it did, he smiled and put it on speaker phone.

"Hey Garcia, this is Greg and Reid." he greeted.

"Aw, is boy-genius making friends with goth-boy?" she cooed.

"No, goth-boy's making friends with genius-boy." Greg smirked. "You should know that he's too shy to make the first move." That final statement earned a smirk from everyone else in the conversation.

"What can I do for you guys?"

"We need you to search a name- Annabelle Gradley." Reid replied. "She runs a small group, most likely a support group for young kids whose parents' just went through divorce. The group may not be official, though."

"I'll be able to find her." Garcia 'pshed'. Greg and Reid could hear her elegant fingers typing away at her keyboard when a sudden beep replaced their sound.

"Annabelle Gradley- 5561 Main Street, Las Vegas," she supplied.

"Thanks Garcia." Greg smiled.

"Aw, anything for me two favorite 'under 30's.'" she joked. On that note, they hung up.

Spencer frowned as he looked over the address. He kept his eyes focused on the road as his mind went over everything he knew so far. Unfortunately, Greg could tell that he had his 'thinking' face on, and he wasn't going let it go this time.

"All right man, what's bugging you?" the black-haired man finally asked. "And don't say 'nothing', because although I may not be a profiler, I know how to read people well enough to know there's something on your mind." When Spencer didn't respond right away, Greg sighed and told him to pull over.

"Why?" Spencer frowned.

"Because I know better than to let a genius drive when he might have a case-breaking epiphany any second. It's not a happy ending, trust me." Greg smirked, although they both knew that inside Greg was in fact just concerned about Spencer and wanted to talk.

Spencer sighed as he pulled over to the side of the road and stopped. Greg promptly got out of the car and leaned against Spencer's side of it. Spencer mimicked the action. Greg stayed quiet as he watched the cars whiz past them, and he waited for his companion to start talking before breaking the silence. After a few more minutes, Spencer finally caved.

"Annabelle Gradley." He sighed. "I'm positive I know her now."

"So you were thinking once we saw the picture, 'boy, she looks familiar!', and didn't say anything?" Greg frowned.

"It's not that simple, Greg." Spencer shook his head.

"Okay… so she was a neighbor or something, I'm assuming, and this was probably before she started her group for kids dealing with divorce." Greg waited for Spencer to confirm, but he never did. Instead, he stared straight ahead and tried to separate himself from the situation. Greg wouldn't have it, though, and he pressed his side against the car so he could force Spencer to look at him. "Spencer…"

"She was a neighbor, Greg, and it was before she started the group. At the time, she was a college therapists, and on occasions she worked at my mother's university." Spencer shared.

"Oh yeah?" Greg smiled. "Genius seems to run in the family, eh?" he joked.

"Yeah, so does schizophrenia." Reid mumbled. Greg's smile slowly disappeared, and he quieted to signal for him to continue.

"What else?" he asked after a long pause in the story.

"Nothing- she was just a neighbor." Reid shrugged. Greg shook his head, though, and once more, he motioned for him to carry on. Finally, Reid decided it to be pointless to argue with Greg, and he continued.

"Annabelle was also the one who stopped me from killing myself."

"**The truth is confirmed! EEK! Oh, and someone(s) mentioned the hallucinations- they're not over with- not at all! Thnx for reading; feedback is appreciated ;) !" **


	8. Liars and Thieves

Some of you have mentioned that I normally make OC's that befriend Spencey turn around and stab him in the back or be apart of the case personally- and whos' to say Greg's different..? Well, let's find out…

White Light- Chapter 8

Liars and Thieves

_"Nothing- she was just a neighbor." Reid shrugged. Greg shook his head, though, and once more, he motioned for him to carry on. Finally, Reid decided it to be pointless to argue with Greg, and he continued._

_"Annabelle was also the one who stopped me from killing myself."_

Greg wasn't surprised, sadly enough. He knew enough about people to know when they were hiding big secrets, and since the first moment he met Spencer, he knew there was something that he wasn't sharing. Instead of telling him, 'oh, that's horrible!' or, 'my god, are you okay now?' or even the oh-so relevant, 'you're over it now, right?' Instead, Greg sighed and turned his head toward Spencer. He waited for him to continue, knowing there was more to it.

Sensing Greg's hesitation, Spencer pushed himself off the car and threw him the keys. "The story's over, Greg. You don't need to hear the rest of it." Although he knew Greg disagreed, he pushed past him and climbed into the passenger seat.

Greg lingered outside the car for a moment, and it wasn't until Spencer was physically in the car that he decided he had officially lost the battle. He reluctantly straightened up and headed back to the car, this time going for the driver's side. He glanced at Spencer one last time before turning the key in the ignition and taking off.

~* WL *~

A few minutes later, Greg and Spencer made it to Annabelle's house. The two young men walked on the doorstep, but they both hesitated before they rang the doorbell. Greg slowly turned his head to Spencer and nodded. Taking that as a signal to ring the bell, Spencer did so.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Greg asked, barely audibly.

"Of course." Spencer nodded. He kept his eyes forward as he watched the door swing open. The brunette smiled pleasantly as she swung the door open, but as soon as she saw Spencer, that smile disappeared. She studied the weary-looking man for a moment before finally giving in and bear-hugging him.

"My god, it is you." she whispered into his hair. She lovingly ran her hand through his hair, the way a mother would, before letting go. "How have you been, Spencer?"

"Actually, Ms. Gradley, Spencer and I are here to ask you a few questions." Greg said. Despite the cold-sounding nature of the statement, Greg sounded sincere. The statement had obviously caught Annabelle off-guard, but she eventually nodded and motioned for the boys to enter. After they were seated and settled, Annabelle cleared her throat, an obvious sign that they should start explaining their reason for visiting.

Greg waited for Spencer to start, and everyone in the room seemed to have noticed that. Spencer stayed quiet though, and he waited for Greg to take the lead. Annabelle grew impatient, though, and she sighed loudly.

"For the love of _god, _Spencer! I haven't seen you in years, and then you show up on my doorstep with a cop and don't even say a word! Would someone _please _tell me what this is about?"

Finally, Greg sighed and nodded his head. "We're working with-"

"Greg Sanders- CSI, SSA Dr. Spencer Reid- BAU." She sighed. "I know that already. I just want to know what this is about…?"

"It's about your support group. There's a serial killer targeting them, in case you hadn't noticed, and we need to know who else is in your group before they're killed too." Everyone was shocked at Spencer's bluntness, but Annabelle knew how to handle herself. She just nodded her head and nodded toward an envelope on her table. "Is this a list?"

"I was expecting you after your father said your team was in-town. I didn't make the connection to the support group and your case until a few hours ago. If you hadn't had showed up, I wouldn't stepped forward."

Spencer stood up as his picked up the envelope. Nodding in thanks, he started walking out of the room.

"_Spencer," _Greg practically hissed. Spencer ignored him, though, and Greg politely excused himself from the room.

"It's no bother; I didn't expect him to react well to seeing me again." Annabelle smiled sadly. "I'll be here all night and most of tomorrow morning. If you need me again, I'm more than willing to help. You should probably go on now…"

"Of course." Greg sighed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin half-sheet of paper with his name on it. "My number," he explained. With a nod from Annabelle, he left.

Annabelle quickly wiped the sympathy smile off her face and let her expression turn hard cold. She hadn't lied, but she hadn't told the whole truth. She knew that Spencer had figured that out, but she had bigger things to worry about at the moment. As she heard the two men's car turn on, she reached for her phone and dialed the number she had all-but memorized by now.

"What the hell have you gotten yourself into this time?" she hissed.

~* WL *~

"What was that about?" Greg whispered as Spencer pulled out of Annabelle's driveway.

Spencer turned back to Greg so that he could see that he wasn't mad or upset anymore. He hadn't been upset with Annabelle, but he was now. He explained to Greg that he was testing her, seeing how she reacted to his behavior. "She was too calm; she suspected I would be angry at her the moment she first saw me."

"Oh yeah? Why would she think that?" Greg asked.

"She ford have something to do with this case, but she doesn't fit the profile of a child killer; she's not our UnSub." Spencer then threw his phone at Greg and instructed him to call Garcia. "When I left earlier, I called Garcia. She's tracking Annabelle's phone service, and she just made a call."

"Smart thinking." Greg muttered as he scrolled down the contact list.

Spencer 's eyes were fixed on the road as he listened into Greg and Garcia's conversation. He hadn't seen Annabelle in years, and it felt wrong to come back and accuse her of being apart of a murder investigation after all she had done for him…

Suddenly, there was a dark figure in the middle of the road, and Spencer immediately slammed on the brakes. As he stared at the figure, he realized that it was Abigail Mettle.

"What the _fu-" _Greg exclaimed.

"_What just happened?" _Garcia demanded.

"Uh, nothing. Just…. I'm going to call you back. Just give that tape to Hotch for now."

Greg sat the cell phone down and turned his attention back to Spencer, who was staring at the road ahead of him looking as if he'd just seen a gosh. "What the hell just happened, Spencer?"

Spencer turned his head toward Greg, revealing a growingly pale face and horror-struck eyes. He quickly turned is head back to the road and shook his head. Suddenly, Greg saw Spencer stumble out of the SUV and fall to his knees on the ground. "Spencer!" He quickly darted out of the car and swooped down next to Spencer. "What's wrong, come on, talk to me!"

"…Hallucinating…" Spencer mumbled. Before Greg could ask anymore questions, Spencer passed out.

**~* WL *~**

**Ah, the mysterious Ms. Annabelle Gradley, the mysterious man on the phone, the dead kid in the road, and now Spencey's passing out after hallucinating. My gosh, who's lying and who's not? **_**Major **_**Bummer! **


	9. Complications

**I apologize for the lack of consistent updates, but I am trying my best. By the end of the week, Stranded in the Desert WILL be posted, and that'll only have about 6 chaps. Also, my new contest will be starting early November. The theme this year is holidays, but there will be more on that later. Thnx for reading everyone! I love each and every one of you! Oh, and I will give you a cookie if you tell me why Hpdges doesn't like Greg on CSI….? **

**White Light- Chapter 9**

**Complications (and that's an understatement)**

Greg Maeyers stopped Spencer Reid's head from slamming against the cement just in time. Quickly, he propped his friend up against the car, trying to figure out what the best course of action would be. He knew he had to call his supervisor,, try to wake him up, and most likely call an ambulance, but he wasn't sure on their order of importance. He quietly decided to call an ambulance, call his supervisor, and then try to wake him up.

"911, what's your emergency?" an operator greeted.

"This is Greg Maeyers with the LVPD. I'm at the side of some road with my friend here, who works with the FBI, and he passed out. I'm pretty sure he was hallucinating beforehand, too. " Greg quickly explained.

"We've found your location, sir. Please stay on the line-"

"Can't do that." Greg groaned. "I have to call Agent Reid's supervisor before they think we were kidnapped or something."

"Then let me read you a list of what-"

"I know what to do when someone passes out. I honestly wouldn't have called if he hadn't had hallucinated beforehand. I'm pretty sure he's been hallucinating all day, actually. I don't need you on the line to keep me calm or to keep him alive. Just send the damn medics and I can handle the rest!" Greg hung up after that and dialed his boss' number.

~* WL *~

Morgan and Prentiss sighed as they passed the file back to Hotch. He motioned for them to follow him into the room where everyone else was, and they obediently followed. Once they were inside, Hotch gave Detective Asiley the file on his youngest agent's connection to the case. The older man flipped through the files, and he nodded in understanding. "He didn't tell you?" he guessed.

"His dad did." Hotch nodded. "It explains a lot, actually. We've been able to find all the possible victims of the UnSub expect for one."

"Victim number one." Asiley supplied. Just as he was about to continue, his cell phone rang, and he answered it quickly.

"What's up Greg?"

"Hey Asiley. I'm on my way to the hospital right now-"

"Wait, why?" he hissed.

"Agent Reid passed out."

"Well, why didn't you just bring him back here? He's probably just stressed and exhausted…"

"I didn't bring him back here, sir, because he was hallucinating right before he passed out." Greg glared. "I'm going to make sure he can check in without any problems, call his dad, and come back to the station. Sound okay?" he asked sarcastically.

"Fine." Asiley grumbled. Without another word, he hung up., Once he put his phone away, he turned back to Hotch and his team, a frown on his face.

"What happened to Reid this time?" Morgan sighed.

"He started hallucinating and then passed out. Greg called the ambulance; they're on their way, I suppose."

"Damn it." Morgan mumbled. "I better call Garcia before she gets wind of this herself. Excuse me…" Morgan left the room, digging in his pocket for his phone. The remaining law enforcement waited until he left the room to continue.

"Greg and Reid were interviewing Annabelle, the woman who ran the divorce group. Hopefully Greg can tell us what they found out when they get back." Prentiss said.

"Greg seems smart; I'm sure he'll have something for us." Hotch nodded. Asiley huffed and was about to protest when Hotch glared at him, shaking his head. Asliey reluctantly backed down, but it was obvious that he still had more than a few issues with Greg.

"After Greg comes, will you guys be ready for a final profile?" Asiley asked.

"Most likely." Prentiss nodded. "There's nothing more we have to go on, and unless the UnSub dramatically changes his MO, I don't see what else we could add or change."

"Prentiss is right; as soon as we talk to Greg, we'll be able to go public,"

"All right." Asiley nodded. Without another word, he left the room.

Prentiss turned around to see the older detective walk away, obviously pissed at something involving Greg- whether it was Greg himself or what Hotch had said to him about Greg, she wasn't sure, though.

She whipped her head around to Hotch, who seemed worried and concerned. She couldn't blame him; she felt the same way. Reid was in trouble again, and this time he was hallucinating. She knew what Hotch was considering, and she hoped that he was wrong, that they were both wrong. In the meantime, though, she needed to crate a distraction for them both, and their job seemed to do just the trick.

"Why did you defend Greg like that?" Prentiss found herself asking. In all honesty, she hadn't expect that to slip out of her mouth, but still, she was curious.

Hotch turned and looked at her, a mixture of relief and surprise in his eyes, as if the answer to her question was obvious. "Reid seems to trust him; that's enough for me." Nodding her head in understanding, Prentiss turned on her heels and followed Hotch out the door.

~* WL *~

Greg squatted in front of Spencer and tried everything he could possibly think of to get the man to wake. He tried repeatedly the same things trying to get him to so much as to stir. "Spencer, SPENCR!" His efforts were in vain, he soon realized, and he finally gave up.

Greg plopped down to the ground closest to Spencer, and just as he did so, he heard the ambulance in the background. "About damn time." he muttered as he stood to his feet again. Quickly, he motioned for the ambulance to show them where he was, and they immediately pulled around. Two men in uniform and one with a gurney appeared and quickly lowered to meet Spencer's body.

"His name's SSA Dr. Spencer Reid. He's been out for about twenty minutes, but there's still a pulse." Greg said. The medics nodded as they placed Spencer onto the gurney. "Is he going to be okay?"

"It's a good thing you called." the female one said. "If he was hallucinating, there could be something seriously wrong, but he seems fine right now. Would you like to ride with him?"

"Uh, no. Company car." Greg shook his head. "I'll follow behind, though."

"We're taking Dr. Reid to Mercy Hospitals off of 9 mile, just in case we get separated." another supplied.

"All right; I know the place." Greg nodded. With that, the medics wheeled Spencer in, and Greg hopped in the SUV. Within seconds, the ambulance took off with Greg tailing behind.

~* WL *~

_The little girl remained motionless as he stared back at me, her brown eyes staring at him, waiting for me to understand what I needed to know. I didn't, though, and I was almost positive the dead girl knew that. I moved my lips as if to speak, but it only shook its head. I stayed quiet as Abigail- Abigail, was that her name?- just waited. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore, and I spoke despite her warnings. _

_"What do you want?" I begged. _

_But she only shook her head, and before I knew what was happening, I was blinded by a white light. _

_~* WL *~_

**Ha! Finally got around to the name of the story. WHOO! Hoped you liked it; R&R? **


	10. Unfortunate

**I'm baaack! So it looks like there's like 6 chapters left of this story, and after I finish writing my hopefully only 6-chap story SITD (being posted tomorrow! EEK!) I will work on a new story. In the meantime pleaz check out my pg for a new writing contest! I finally have info up! WHOO! WARNING: All medical facts were googled!**

White Light- Chapter 10

Unfortunate

"Dr. Reid, can you hear me?"

The voice was muffled at best, and even then, the term was considerate. Spencer could hear it, nonetheless, and he tried so hard to open his eyes and see who was talking to him. No matter how hard he tried to pull out of the hellish nightmare, he kept being pulled back in, and every time he did attempt, his mind would fight back twice as hard until the pain was so unreal that he just wanted to scream. This time, as he was taken from reality again, he didn't dare fight back.

"Crashing- he's crashing!" the nurse announced frantically. Quickly, she, with the help of two other nurses, rolled in a crash cart and immediately started working at bringing the distressed man back. Fortunately, they able to bring him back fairly easily, but unfortunately, they noticed something different this time.

"Get the doctor." Nurse Jacquelyn instructed. With a nod from another nurse, Jacquelyn went back to assessing the patient's new medical state. Sighing to herself, she mumble, "Damn it."

"Jacquelyn? What happened?" Dr. Kyllie asked, a frown forming on her face.

Jacquelyn bent up from the patient's body, her pale face cold and serious. "I'm afraid we have some bad news."

~* WL *~

The team was notified immediately about the events that had conspired, but unfortunately, it was during their first public profile. Hotch looked down at his caller ID, letting a suddenly worried look cross his face. He looked up at his team, and they all nodded in understanding. Rossi quietly motioned for him to leave, and Hotch did just that.

The section chief quickly hit the 'send' button and answered the phone call as soon as he left the conference room. He held the device up to his ear and said hello.

"Agent Hotchner, my name is Dr. Kyllie, and I'm calling you because you are my patient's ICE contact. Do you accept this responsibility, or would you rather his next of kin be called instead?"

Hotch closed his eyes and sighed. The news was new to him, but he supposed he wasn't too shocked, and due to the nature of the situation, he let that slip further down his list of worries for the moment. "I accept. Now please, tell me what happened? "

"Dr. Reid slipped into an unexplained and unexpected coma just an hour ago. We, obviously, have no idea what caused it, but we are running some tests right now. So far, everything's inconclusive, but if we find anything, we'll be sure to call you. Would you like to come to the hospital and see Dr. Reid, or are you too busy? I understand, being an FBI Agent and all, and plus there's nothing much you could do over here."

Hotch remained speechless for a moment. Coma? Where did that come from? Reid hadn't been showing any serious signs of a health problem, and even when they had started the case he knew that Reid had been faking being sick. "Does this have anything to o with the hallucinations?"

"It would make sense." the doctor replied. "Perhaps he isn't necessary in a coma, but rather a coma-like state. It's too hard to tell the first few hours, but it is very rare for it to happen, anyways. It could have also been caused by a drug.. We can't be certain about anything until we receive the rest of the test results."

Hotch nodded to himself, knowing that the doctor was right. "All right. I'll stay here, but please call me as soon as you get anything new."

"Of course, sir." And with that, they both hung up.

~* WL *~

"Our UnSub is an obsessive , OCD pedophile who gets off on death." Rossi started.

"He'll be in his light to mid forty's, and he is well-liked and well-trusted amongst children who are categorized as outsiders in their public schools." Prentiss said.

"Our guy isn't a dominant personality, and he must likely is very timid. He keeps to himself, probably punches in more overtime at work, and most likely works around children. Our best bet right now is that he works at a Las Vegas public high school, and so far everything we've found backs up this." Morgan supplied.

"Everything you found?" Asiley frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"He means the pedophiles almost always have a distinctive profile. They're trusted with kids, incompetent, not willing to take risks, coward-like, and weak- both physically and mentally. Most of the time, they suffer from minor mental disabilities or more times than never abuse themselves. SO far, this description fits our UnSub now, so finding him is only a matter of narrowing down lists of suspects." Prentiss explained.

"Lists of suspects?" Greg asked. "Are you talking about like people affiliated with Annabelle Gradley and the high school teachers?"

"To start with, yes." Rossi nodded. Just as he was about to carry on, a creaking sound diverted everyone's attention, and the BAU team quickly noted that Hotch had walked in. Rossi gave him a questioning look, but Hotch's only response was a shake of the head- a symbol that something was definitely wrong.

"Our technical analyst from Quantico is flying end. It'll be much more easier to have her here where we can

Receive search results sooner and share information better. Once she arrives, she will search for the list of suspects, and once she is able to narrow the list down, we'll be able to search the remaining suspects personally." Hotch added. Looking around the room, he nodded his head. "Are there any other questions?"

"I have one." Greg nodded his head and stepped forward, a stern but yet sympathetic look on his face. "What did the hospital just tell you about Spencer?"

_~* WL *~_

_I looked around me and quickly realized that Abigail was still there. Normally, the hallucinations passed by now, but I could still see her. That worried me a bit, but I tried to keep calm. I watched as she smiled at me, her bright eyes contrasting her pale complexion. After a moment, I allowed myself to look around, and I immediately knew where I was. _

_I propped myself up on my old childhood bed, and I waited for Abigail to finally speak. I could understand why she was so hesitant, but I watched her closely as she nodded her head and looked up at me. _

"_I assume you know I don't exist." It was a statement, not a question, I noted. "And I suppose you've figured quite a few things out by now as well." _

"_Not nearly enough." I sighed. That caused her to smile. _

"_When you're afraid and misguided by your own mind, understanding everything else is the only thing that keeps you sane." _

_And that was when it clicked. I finally mustered the courage to stand up and approach Abigail, and as she saw me coming towards her from the middle of my doorway, a quick laugh escaped her lips. Before I could move any closer, though, she started walking swiftly towards me. Before I knew it, a needle was slipped into my arm, and before I passed out, I heard her mumble the sentence that confirmed I had been right about the 'hallucinations' all along. _

"_Standing up to yourself is always the hardest thing you'll ever do, do you think, Spencer?"_

_~* WL *~_

**Hehehe….I-so mean! Thnx for reading everyone- cookies to the lot of you! And don't' forget to check out my contest!**


	11. Afraid of Needles

**We have our first entry for the contest! YAY! And now, we shall continue! And once more, all medical facts were Googled. **

White Light- Chapter 11

Afraid of Needles

Aaron Hotchner nodded towards Greg Maeyers, and the young officer quickly followed him out the door. Morgan and Prentiss watched as they left the room before sharing concerned looks. Rossi dismissed the officers after questions were answered.

"Greg, that was uncalled for-" Detective Asiley hissed as he stormed out of the conference room. Fortunately for Greg, Hotch stepped in and stopped his superior from further yelling at him.

"Detective Asiley, do you have something against Maeyers?" he asked, challenging the man to respond.

"You know what I told you, Greg. One more chance- one more!" Asiley yelled, completely ignoring Hotch.

"Yes sir," Greg said through gritted teeth.

"Good, because you're skating on thin ice right now." Before Hotch had the chance to intervene, the detective marched out of the room. Greg watched with angry eyes as his boss left the scene.

" 'The hell was that?" Hotch asked.

"Nothing- just tell me what's wrong with Spencer," Greg sighed.

Although Hotch wanted to press the issue, he knew that it wouldn't do him any good, so he instead just nodded his head and answered the question. "The doctor called me," was as far as he got before the rest of his team entered the room. "He's not doing well right now. His heart stopped, he's hallucinating, and he could possibly be in a coma. They don't know what's wrong right now, but they're pretty sure he'll survive."

"God, what has this kid gotten himself into now?" Morgan muttered.

"Can we visit him?" Prentiss asked.

"The doctor said that he most likely can't hear us, but if it would make us feel more at-ease, then sure." Hotch nodded. "We still need to deal with this case, though." Hotch reminded.

"I say we split up and work with what we've got so far and visit Reid after dinner." Rossi suggested.

"Prentiss- go visit Annabelle Gradley again, but don't let her know that we know she's involved somehow. Just tell her that we have a lead in the case and most likely found out who the UnSub is. See if she takes the bait." Prentiss nodded before taking off toward the door.

"Greg, I want you and Morgan to check the school teachers on the list of UnSubs that Garcia narrowed down for us once she arrives. See if any of them fit the profile and try to find the connection they have with Annabelle or her group." Once there was another series of nods, they took off.

"Dave, once Garcia gets here, we need to brief her on the case and try to find out any other background information we can on Annabelle. Ask neighbors, other teachers, anyone- we need to find out what she knows."

"And what about William Reid?" Dave asked.

"I haven't forgotten about him yet." Hotch sighed as he nodded his head. "I'm bringing him in as well." With that, the two older agents started back toward the offices to set up for Garcia.

~* WL *~

Penelope Garcia entered the Las Vegas Police Station with a grim look on her face. One of her precious babies was in trouble again, and she wouldn't have a moment's rest until she made she that he was better again. In the meantime, though, she had a child killer to catch.

"Baby Girl!" she heard someone shout from behind her, and a smile crept over her delicate face as she realized who it was. She immediately turned around and hugged the man tightly. "I missed you too," he laughed.

"Yeah, you remember that after you get yourself in trouble again," she smirked.

"So I take it you know about Spencer?" a second voice asked from the sidelines. Penelope looked up and raised her eyebrows. She studied the new man's features and couldn't help but be reminded of her sick friend- if he was goth, anyways. The man coughed nervously, and she realized that she had been staring off.

"Er, my apologies. You just- you just look a lot like him," Garcia smiled sadly. That caused the new man to smile, something Garcia found odd. "What is it?"

"To be compared to him in any light is a compliment. Your friend's a very smart man." Greg explained.

"Oh, I remember you now! You're the guy that I talked to with Spencer before...well..."

"Yeah, that was me," Greg nodded.

Garcia all ready liked Greg, and as Morgan led her to her set-up area, she secretly hoped that once the case was over and her baby was back home safe they would try to keep in touch. She could tell that the two young men had taken a-liking to each other, and by the way Morgan was reacting to the situation, he approved as well.

"So, how far have you gotten on that last?" Morgan asked.

Garcia sat down next to the array of computers the officers and Morgan had put up for her, and she smiled as he fingers typed effortlessly over the keyboard. "I on this a lot before I left, and if you give me a few more minutes, I'll be completely done," she said. She was obviously proud of herself, and that made both Greg and Morgan laugh.

"You never fail to amaze me, Woman," he sighed playfully.

"And how much more amazed are you now that I just completed the list?" Garcia printed out the papers and passed them to the men standing over her. Morgan quickly skimmed through the list before passing it to Greg to look at.

"Thanks Garcia; we'll be back A-sap," With a small dismissive smile from Garcia, Morgan led Greg outside.

~* WL *~

_I was freezing. My blood felt like it had frozen, my body felt like it had been sunk in ice water, and my mind was going completely numb. I recognized all of this as an illusion almost immediately, because once you've gone through serious withdrawals, you'll never forget that feeling. I tried to move, but my body protested and curled back up into its original position. I gave up that hope immediately, and I stayed very still as I waited for it to return. _

_Unfortunately, I didn't have to wait long._

**~* WL *~**

**A shorter one, I know, but I want to try to update my new storyy by Monday, I have to beta, and I still have to write my story for the Chit Chat Forums' Christmas exchange! Thnx for reading; oh, and SPOILER: The next chap will be most likely all told from Spencers POV, aka, a halulcination. EEK! **


	12. Way Down

**It will most likely take me longer to update for a few reasons, but the only one that should interest you is that I'm trying super-hard to be able to beta my own stories again. I've been considering getting rid of my beta account for a while, but I didn't think that was very fair, so just pleaz bare with me! **

**White Light- Chapter 12**

**Way Down **

"Spencer," she sang. "Don't hide from me; you know you won't win,"

I had no idea what I had done to cause the sudden change in Abigail's behavior, but I hoped that this hallucination would soon pass and another one would take its place. I couldn't take it anymore, and the track marks forming on my arm were proof of that. I honestly had no idea why I was hallucinating in the first place, and the only thing I was sure of was that I was in a hospital trapped in my mind.

'Coma,' my mind suddenly supplied. I sighed as the realization hit me, but I quickly ran from my hiding place underneath the sink in the hotel room and darted out into the hallway. My hands started shaking as I turned around the corner, and a surprised scream slipped from my lips as I ran into a little boy.

"Sorry," I muttered, but as I looked down at him, I gasped. The little boy was frowning at me, and he was shaking his head. His thick rimmed glasses revealed tearful eyes, and his matted brown hair was tainted with a coat of blood. His plaid shirt and his dark washed jeans were soaked with rain and perspiration, and he was visibly shaking. I didn't need to take a closer look at the boy to realize who he was, and as soon as I did, I knew what was going on.

"It' Him, isn't it?" I asked. My voice only tremmored slightly, something that I quickly regretted, because now matter how small the noise was, it was still enough for the child to know I was afraid.

Ten year-old Spencer Reid nodded his head, and he pointed out a large ceiling-to-floor glass mirror. I looked outside, but as soon as I did, I felt dizzy. I closed my eyes and tried to regain focus, and as I reopened them, I realized that the atmosphere had changed again. I was back in my childhood bedroom- again- but this time I was sitting opposite of Spencer. He looked at me with earnest, pleading eyes, and I understood what he wanted immediately.

"I'll catch him; I promise. He won't hurt anyone ever again," I whispered. I knew those words were what Spencer wanted to hear, because I remembered too clearly feeling the exact same way. I wanted someone to tell me that it was all going to be okay, and I wanted to let Spencer have that, even if it was from himself. The child nodded before hugging me closely, letting his head become buried in my chest. I hugged him back, waiting for my latest hallucination to tell me the new piece of information that I needed. My first one told me that I was connected, the second one that I already knew who the killer was. Now, I knew how to treat the child to get what I needed, and knowing myself better than the other children also put me at an advantage.

Suddenly, Spencer pulled away from me, and he moved toward his dresser drawer. He opened the second drawer and produced a wooden box. I knew that I had once used that box, but for what purpose I suddenly couldn't remember. Spencer climbed back on top of the bed again and sat the box down beside us. I reached for its lid, but he only shook his head and retracted my hand. A frown formed on my lips, but yet he still didn't talk. I cursed silently for the fact that only one of my hallucinations had talked, and that was the same one that had tormented me with all the things I hated or that had hated me. Spencer put a delicate finger to his lips before reaching underneath his pillow. He produced an envelope that he placed on top of the box, and once more, it was made clear that I could not touch it. I was growing tired of Spencer's games, and I could sense that he felt my irritation as he wrapped his arms around his legs and leaned against his pillows. I remembered being in that position too many times as a child, and I became angry at myself for making him feel that same way again. I put a comforting hand on Spencer's shoulder, and he reluctantly came back to me. The need to comfort the boy became too strong and overwhelming to ignore, and I placed him back on my chest and combed through his hair. The scene seemed so familiar to me, but my memory seemed to be failing me at the moment.

I let the boy close his eyes and be rocked into a light sleep as I thought of the significance of this hallucination- or rather memory, I supposed would be a more accurate term now. I looked around me, trying my best to wrap my head around the situation by failing somewhat miserably. My eyes wandered around the room desperately, trying my hardest to come to some sort of conclusion.

The wooden box, the envelope, the bed, the drawer, the comfort...It all seemed so familiar, but for the life of me, I couldn't recall a single instance that was even similar to this one. It was obvious to me that this was a recreation of a memory, though, and I knew that it would eventually come back to me. I hated the waiting, though, and I too was becoming tired. I pulled the boy closer to my so I could lean on the bedpost, and as I closed my eyes, the 'memory' changed.

_"Close your eyes Spencer; he can't hurt you anymore," the thick-accented female voice whispered. I desperately wanted to open my eyes, and as I realized that I couldn't the desperation to do so grew inside of me. Before I could accomplish this, though, I felt a small pinch near my neck. Almost instantly, I fell to sleep, but not before I heard the start of another conversation. _

_"What the hell is going on?" William Reid hissed. _

_"What does it look like?" Annabelle glared back. Before William could respond, Annabelle was marching out of the house, leaving me alone with William. The last thing I heard before I fell to sleep was something that no father should ever have to say to his son._

_"My god Spencer; what did he do to you?" _

_~* WL *~ _

"And...Charging! Clear!" the step-in nurse shouted as she paddled her patient. Fortunately, his heart started beating again, but she was still on the fence about leaving him. This had been the second time his heart had stopped, and she was afraid that he wouldn't survive another one. Just as she reached for her pager to inform his doctor, she heard a moan come from the bed. She raised her eyebrows as she wandered closer to it, and as she looked over the patient, a smile passed over her delicate features.

"Welcome back, Dr. Reid."

~* WL *~

Aaron Hotchner was pissed. He had been angry before, but he had never been as infuriated as he currently was.

Quickly, the FBI agent briskly speed-walked down the halls of the police station, not even bothering to say good-bye to his team members as they made their way out the door to visit his youngest agent. He violently opened the door to the small office he had been in numerous times in the last few days, and as soon as he entered, he slammed it shut.

"We need to talk, Mr. Reid," Hotch said, seething by this point.

"What about?" William frowned.

Hotch waited to answer as he sat down opposite of his agents father, signalling toward the door for someone to come in. As the doorknob turned open and a pair of heels clicked against the floor, William gaped.

"Why didn't you tell me you knew who did that to Spencer?"

**~* WL *~**

**Yeah. kinda obvious who it is, I know. :) Thnx for reading everyone; I hoped you liked it! Oh, and if you're still a bit confused about the 'memories'/ hallucinations (someone already figured this out though- YAY!) just know that they ARE memories that will lead Spencer to figuring out what the freak is going on, and when he's seeing these 'memories', he has to please the children in them to get the new information he needs to solve the case...PS- It's not too late to enter the holiday contest!**


	13. Daddy Tells the Truth

**My apologies, but things are still pretty hectic! FF has been giving me trouble lately (cough, I saved this here and it kept DELETING EVERYTHING, and I had to restart this at least 3 damn times!) , and a lot of things on the site I can't get to load! GRRR. Enough excuses, onward! And ye be warned- there will be about…..4, maybe 5 chapters left. WARNING: All medical facts=Google Results**

**WL- Chapter 13**

**Daddy tells the Truth**

_**As the doorknob turned open and a pair of heels clicked against the floor, William gaped.**_

_"Why didn't you tell me you knew who did that to Spencer?"_

William Reid stood up as the new guest entered the room. He hadn't seen Annabelle since Spencer was a kid, and he had to admit that, even though they had gotten along quite well, he wasn't too pleased to see her again. They had once been friends, but after that day over ten years ago, he hadn't once talked to her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Annabelle repeated through gritted teeth.

"Sit down, Annabelle." Hotch warned. The clearly pissed-off woman sat down with a 'hmph' and glared at William. "Now tell us, WIlliam; who did this to your son?"

"It was the letter," William sighed. "I showed it to you, and I'm pretty sure I know who wrote it."

"Wait, what letter?" Annabelle frowned.

William looked at her incrediously, shocked that she didn't know what he was talking about. "Didn't Spencer tell you? That night...when I came home and you were in Spencer's room...and...and you told me what had happened. Whoever wrote that letter's the person who made my son try to kill himself." he said.

Annabelle's frown grew even wider as she processed the information that William had just told her. Just as she opened her mouth, something clicked inside her brain, and a sudden idea popped into her mind.

"Annabelle, what is it?" Hotch asked.

"Spencer didn't try to kill himself because of a letter; he tried to kill himself because of the bullying. After you left, it became brutal, even moreso than usual. I started becoming terrified to even let him go to school at one point. They were just..." The woman shuddered, thoughts of the things they had done to Spencer crossing her mind. "It was just terrible."

"So Spencer never saw the letter.' William knew it wasn't a question even as it escaped his own lips. He wished that it was, though, because he couldn't stand the possibilty that what Annabelle saying was true.

"William, you don't know who wrote those letters-whoever it was wasn't the cause of your son's...you son's depression, but whoever wrote that letter wanted to hurt him, and I;m positive that Annabelle knows who it is." Hotch said, keeping his voice low and calm.

"It's true, William. I know who tried to hurt your son." Annabelle nodded.

Still trying to recover from the news he had recieved about Spencer not finding the letter, William just nodded his head, bracing himself for the next blow, all the while feeling like a complete idiot for not figuring it out sooner.

Annabelle let out a shaky breath as she turned her gaze to William. Quietly, she took his hands and spoke gently. "I... I know who sent Spencer the letter, but I wasn't certain it was him until now. The man was a patient at my old adult therapy center, and he had first came to me because he had started to develop feelings for the kids at the school he worked at. I wanted to tell the police, but I was legally obliged not to unless such a case like this came up." Annabelle started.

"How do you know our UnSub is this man?" Hotch asked.

"The letters- he had to write letters as part of his therapy. In the letters, he was free to write about whatever he wanted to whoever he wanted. Most of the time, it was to the parents of kids he addressed as 'the red-haired girl' or the 'black-haired boy'. They were a tool to help him develop a conscious and to show him what would happen if he acted on his fantasies." Annabelle replied.

"What fantasies?" WIlliam frowned, although he had a feeling he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Forcing children to kill themselves."

~* WL *~

"Welcome back, Dr. Reid."

Spencer Reid frowned as he squinted his eyes open, blocking out some of the harsh light. He felt groggy and drugged and immediately his eyes glanced toward his arm. 'Thank god,' he thought, 'it was only part of the halucination.'

"You had us quite worried, and your friends, too." the black-haired nurse smiled. "I'm glad you seem to be doing better."

"Are they here?" Reid asked, earning a nod from the nurse.

"They'll be in in just a second; just let me take this one last vial of blood and then I can send them in." Reid bit his lip as the needle entered his skin, and he tried his best not to think about Tobias Hankel as he felt it extract the blood. Finally, she pulled it out and squirted it into a vial with his name on it. "Would you like to see them?"

"Uh...sure." Reid nodded. The nurse nodded her head before leaving the room. He knew that his team would want an explanation, and although he still didn't quite have one, he knew they'd be suspecious if he didn't let them visit him. In the end, he knew it'd be best if he just let them in.

"My baby!" a female voice cooed as she entered the room. "They better be feeding you!"

"Hi Garcia." Spencer smiled. He tried not to show her his discomfort as she reached out to hug him, pratcially squeezing him to death. A much more subtle knock on the door diverted his attention though, and his smile grew as he saw Greg, Morgan, and Prentiss walk in.

"Down girl, give him some room to breathe!" Morgan joked, running to the kid's rescue. Garcia relunctantly moved over so the others could visit.

"Hey Pretty Boy, I hope you're feeling better." Morgan said with a playful ruffle to his hair.

"Hi Reid; we missed you." Prentiss offered, knowing Reid would be glad to have at least one person play it more down-low. Greg offered a shy smile and a wave, and it was obvious even to Reid that something was on his mind.

"What did I miss?" Reid asked.

"Jack-squat." Morgan lied. "And even if there was, we wouldn't be able to tell you."

"Why not?" Reid frowned.

Morgan stared at his friend incredulously, as if challenging Reid to dare lie to him again. "We know about the letter, kid, so don't dare try to lie."

This time, Reid looked truly puzzled, and just as he went to open his mouth, Greg's cell phone went off. "Sorry guys." he mumbled as he left the room. Reid waited until Greg left to continue, this time changing focus a little.

"What's up with Greg?"

"Something went down between him and Asiley, but no one's sure just what." Morgan sighed.

"The kid must've screwed up big time." Prentiss muttered. "The boss has been calling him nonstop." Reid just nodded.

"Why didn't you tell us about the letter?" Morgan asked, switching gears again. But once more, Spencer just frowned. "Kid, it's okay; just...just tell us about it now, okay?"

"Morgan, I assume you're talking about those letters that the UnSub sent his victims, but I honestly have no idea what that has to do with me. I never got one!" Reid hissed.

"Reid, we don't have time for this-" Prentiss started, but the sound of Greg reentering the room diverted her attention. Greg sighed as he entered the room, flipping his phone shut. "What is it Greg?" she asked.

"He...he doesn't know." Greg said.

"But William said that Reid..." Morgan trailed off when he realized what Greg was talking about.

"Oh no..." Prentiss gasped, her eyes fluttering from Greg to Reid.

"Yeah." Greg nodded.

"Would someone tell me what's going on?" Reid shouted, flustered.

Morgan and Prentiss exchanged concerned looks with Greg, who too looked saddened. Walking closer to Reid, Greg started to explain. "Your dad came forward with a letter, saying that you had tried to act on it. Well, Annabelle came foward too, and she just admitted that you never saw the letter."

Reid was now thoroughly confused; he had gotten a letter? Why did his father think he saw it...Oh. Reid now knew what they were talking about, and he nervously bit his lip, unsure how to proceed.

"Why didn't you tell anyone, Spencer?" Greg asked, a frown on his face.

Suddenly, Spencer felt dizzy, and his head started pounding again. His vision blurred, and no matter how hard he tried to refocus, everything around him still spun. "I...I don't...know..." he mumbled, unable to support his body anymore. He slouched until he was completely off the bed's headrest. He whimpered as the aching grew, and before he knew what had happened, he was screaming again.

"Nurse!" Morgan called out. Almst immediately, the black-haired nurse returned and approached Reid. As she reached out to him, the screaming stopped, and he was dead to the world again. "What just happened?"

"This is was happened before he went into a coma last time, but he didn't scream. He's still breathing normally, and his heart rate is fine, though. I'm pretty sure he'll be okay. My best guess says he's halucinating again." she sighed.

"How long has this been happening?" Greg asked.

"Since you admitted him." she replied. "We're pretty sure we know what is causing this, but we have to wait until the results come back to be sure."

"Well, what do you think it is?" Prentiss asked.

The nurse sighed; she knew that she wasn't allowed to tell anyone but immediate family about these things, or, in Reid's case, the medical contact, but it was obvious that his co-workers were very close to him, and the results could also lead to a possible threat on someone's the rules slip this once, she nodded her head. "It's rare, but there is a type of chemical posioning that can cause sudden but short-term coma, hallucinations, and heart failure. Now, this particular substance is most commonly liquidized and powderized and is put in common household cleaning items, most commonly, herbisides and fertilizers. This chemical is caused Ammonium Sulfamate, and we believe that this is what is causing your friend's illness. Someone slips it into his drink and mixes it until tasteless, and he'd never know. Due to the severity of his symptoms, we also believe that this person was smart about it and posioned him multple times."

"So someone was slipping fertilizer into Reid's coffee?" Garcia frowned.

"Yes, we believe so."

"Damn it." Morgan muttered. "And I think I know who it is."

~* WL *~

I didn't know if I could open my eyes, and I didn't even want to try. I laid still and quiet until it came to me, knowing better than to provoke it from the last few 'memories'. I suddenly felt a poke on my back, and I finally allowed myself to open my eyes. I frowned as I did so, because I was laying in the middle of a football field with my legs tied together.

"How could you have forgotten, Spencer?"

**~* WL *~**

**Duh, duh, duuuh! Almost done folks! Thnx for hanging in there!**


	14. No Way Out

**And now we meet the UnSub! EEP! Thnx everyone for reading, and don't forget to check out my contest! We've gotten quite a few amount of new entries ;) **

**White Light-Chapter 14**

**No Way Out **

_"How could you have forgotten, Spencer?"_

Finally, _finally, _I understood what was happening. I felt ashamed that it had taken me so long to realize it, but now that I knew, it all made sense. I turned around to face Edward Liales, and as I did so, a smile formed on his face.

"Welcome back to hell, Spencer."

~* WL *~

Derek Morgan raced into the police station with his best imitation of Hotch's serious look on his face. He was pissed, and he had a good reason to be.

"What's up?" Rossi frowned as he caught up with the younger agent. Morgan turned around sharply and just shook his head.

"Morgan!" someone from behind them yelled. "What the hell was that?" Prentiss hissed.

"PRentiss, you should've stayed with Reid," he muttered. "And I know who our UnSub is," he added as he flipped through the case file.

"Well, we gathered that much, but why did you barge out of the hospital like that?" Rossi asked.

Morgan ignored their questions and comments, though, and he focused on whatever task he had at hand. He scattered through the papers, searching for the name that was running through his head. Finally, he found what he was looking for, and he nodded his head for his team to follow him. Rossi and Prentiss shared confused looks, but they still decided to follow him. When they caught up, Morgan was on the phone looking more distressed than he had the last time they had saw him.

"Are you sure?...Oh course...Yeah, just come back by." With a sigh, Morgan hung up.

"What's wrong?" Prentiss asked.

"Reid's missing, and Garcia's panicking because she feels guilty for leaving him. I told her to come by. We'll figure this out," Morgan said.

"And in the mean time?" Rossi questioned. The older agent knew it was coming, and he knew that Morgan would need help with whatever he had discovered.

"We need to talk to Millie Meyers, the principle of Las Vegas Public High School."

~ WL *~

"Annabelle, what's his name?" Hotch demanded. The woman didn't even hesitate as she wrote it down, a frown on her face.

"He...He was the principle at the time Spencer was attending. He told me about a young boy who was extremely smart- 12 years old and all ready graduating- and he told me how badly he wanted him. He admitted that he let the other kids bully him, and in some instances, he even dropped hints to the students of what they should do next."

"Do you think he'll come after Spencer?" William asked, obviously concerned.

"He normally goes after children, but your son is different. He'll most likely come back to victim number one, which we're pretty sure was Spencer. Especially now that he knew he survived, he'll want him more than ever. There's no doubt in my mind that he won't try to, at least," Hotch explained.

A knock on the door silenced the door, and Hotch reluctantly paused the 'interrogation' to answer it. "This better be important-" he started, but seeing the look on Morgan's face, he stopped. "He has him, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, no one saw a damn thing, and the cameras didn't pick anything up, either." Morgan sighed.

"This bastard took my son?" William hissed.

"We'll get him back Mr. Reid; just try to recall anything else you can think of. Talk with Annabelle, I'm sure you two have a lot of catching up to do." The two distressed citizens sat back down with a nod of their heads. Of course they wanted to help Spencer, but they couldn't do that in the conditions they were in. They needed to take a step back and think things over.

"We have a lead," Hotch added. "We're pretty sure we know who the UnSub is."

"Yeah, so am I," Morgan nodded. "The old school principle..."

"His name's Edward Liales," Annabelle supplied. "He used to be a patient of mine. He had fantasies about suicidal kids."

"Alright, I had Garcia locate his current housing and the GPS is already set to it now. I want all hands on deck with this one, including Asliey's men," Hotch ordered.

As if on cue, Asiley sided the corner and slipped into sight. "Everyone except Greg are ready to come, sir. We'll help any way we can."

"Great, you can help by not pretending you have something against Greg and bring him out here. He's not Cinderella; you can't just hide him so the prince's men won't see him." His team supressed a smirk, knowing Hotch meant business when he quoted Disney. Asiley glared, but he nodded his head despite himself. He fiddled with his phone and almost as soon as he sat it down, Greg rounded the same corner Asiley had.

"You need me, boss?" Greg asked coldly. It was obvious that he didn't think whatever he had done was wrong, and from what Hotch had witnessed, he had to side with Greg.

"We want you out in the field. Think you can handle it this time?"

"Yes sir," Greg pratically spat out. Asiley nodded, turning command back to Hotch. Chosing to let the suborninate-boss rivarly slide, he moved on to the matter at hand. He quickly laid out the game plan as he addressed both his team and Asiley's force.

"Does everyone know what they're position is?" he asked. With a series of nods, he dismissed them to their cars.

~* WL *~

"Am I hallucinating?" Spencer mumbled. He was suddenly very confused. He didn't remember being kidnapped and taken to the field, but something just wasn't adding up...

"No, not anymore," Liales shook his head. "I'm sorry I had to drug you in the first place, but with your boss knowing about you, I knew there was no way I'd be able to take you otherwise." The principle made his way closer to the tied-up FBI agent, and a smile crossed his face. "I've missed you so much. But don't worry; I plan on making up for lost times quite fully."

~* WL *~

**I bet you guys are starting to hate those ~* WL *~'s because they always 'leave you hanging' in the middle of a scene! hehhehe...Well, the hallucinations/memories are over, but there will be mention of them later. Sorry the chaps have been shorter, but since it's harder to update, I didn't want you guys hanging any longer! Thnx for reading! PS-3 chaps left!**


	15. In the Dark

**This is it everyone, the final showdown! Who wins? Only I know! Well, I'm sure you guys can guess, but ah-ha!-there is a twist! Also, don't forget about my holiday contest! Warning: Psychological studies were Googled. **

**White Light-Chapter 15**

**In the Dark**

Spencer Reid glared at the smiling man in front of him, trying his best to think of a way to get out of the situation he was in. He tried backing away from him as he grew closer to him, but the ropes tied around him kept him securely in his place. He struggled against Liales as he crouched down next to him and stroked his cheek. "I regret letting you get away, Nick. I shouldn't have let them take you away from me," he whispered.

"My name isn't Nick," Spencer hissed. Liales frowned before turning violent again. He slapped Spencer's cheek as hard as he could before pulling away. He dragged Spencer by his feet closer to a goal post, his eyes red with anger.

"Don't lie to me! I know who my own brother is!" he fumed

Spencer's mind went into overdrive after processing the new bit of information. It made sense, actually, that the man had become delusional. A broken family with a father that most likely sexually abused his children, turning into a child molester himself, his brother most likely dying, working around children all day- it all made more sense now. Most likely, Nick was killed by either him or his father, and his mind made him feel guilty, tricking him into thinking of himself as his father. In more severe cases, it would be called DID.

"How are you still here?" he suddenly asked.

"What do you mean...?" Spencer questioned cautiously.

Liales paced around Spencer, dabbing sweat from his forehead. "No…No…You can't be here! You can't! I killed you- I killed him!" He started mumbling incoherently as he walked in circles around Spencer. Spencer gulped, knowing that if Liales got desperate, he could snap at any second. He silently prayed his team would find him, because it wasn't' a matter of if Liales would breakdown now, it was a matter of when. And whenever that did happen, he didn't want to be alone in the field with him.

~* WL *~

"Greg, Prentiss; did you find anything?" Hotch asked over the radio signals. Hotch was currently with Asiley and Rossi at the school, while Prentiss and Greg were at the UnSub's house with Morgan and another officer.

"No sir, but there is something rather suspicious," Greg called back.

"What is it?" This time, Greg recognized the voice as Asiley's. He cringed, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Morgan and Prentiss.

"It's a name, Asiley," Prentiss replied, obviously making sure that their bosses knew she had Greg's back on the theory. "It says Nick L. on a photograph of Liales when he was younger- due to the dating, probably around eleven. The boy, I'm assuming Nick L., looks just like him, but he appears to be a few years younger. Do you think he could've had a brother?"

"It's possible," Hotch answered. "We'll have Garcia look into it. Call us if you find anything else that we could use."

"Yes sirs," Greg sighed. The line was cut off with static, and Greg dismounted his radio before rejoining the group. Morgan and Prentiss offered sympathetic looks, but Greg just shook his head and went back to searching.

Greg shuffled through documents opened on Liales' desk, and a frown formed on his face. He quickly skimmed over the paperwork before deeming it nothing more than old work documents. Just as he was about to abandon the desk, a glossy piece of paper sticking out of a cabinet caught his eye. "Hey guys, I think I found something."

"What is it Greg?" the other officer asked.

"Well, it could be nothing, but if I could just get this damn drawer open..." he muttered as he leaned all his weight into the locked drawer. Seeing it was pointless, he glanced up and beckoned Morgan over. "I'm sure there's a key somewhere, but it'd be so much quicker if you just man-handled it open." Greg shrugged when he saw Prentiss smiling behind Morgan's oh-so athletic figure, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

"Never heard it worded quite like that, but what works..." Morgan paused as he effortlessly leaned into the drawer and pushed up, sliding it open promptly, "works," he finished with a smile. Rolling her eyes, Prentiss moved closer to the files and photos.

"Damn," she sighed. "This is definitely our guy." Morgan leaned over to see the photos before sighing to himself. They were of boys ranging from what appeared to be ages ten to fifteen. Most of them were younger, but there were a handful of teens as well. The pictures were obviously taken without the boys' acknowledgement, as most of them were of them swimming, working out, or god help them, of them changing in the locker room. The amount of photos and different styles, like color and how close they were, made it obvious that he had first progressed from thin, dark-haired teenagers, to younger children of the same common physical traits.

"Guys, this is definitely something that could help us," Greg called from another pile of folders. "Look here, this is a death certificate of a Nick Liales, age seven. Says here that child services suspected foul play on behalf of the father, but nothing ever came of the investigation. I'm pretty sure this is our trigger," he quickly explained.

"Where did he die?" Morgan asked quickly, an idea obviously forming in his mind.

"At the Las Vegas Public High School. Apparently he had been raped on the football field, and when a witness called the police, the unknown man shot the kid and ran. The witness' psychical description matched the description of Nick's father, but for some reason, the police stopped looking," Greg replied. He paused before turning away from the document, a confused look on his face. "Spencer's obviously not here, so are you thinking...?"

"Go back to the original crime scene," Prentiss nodded. "It's pretty common in cases like this, actually."

"I'm calling Hotch; he's at the school now, so he should have spotted them," Morgan said, but he stopped when Greg started shaking his head. "What is it?"

"The original field used up until '88 was a few miles away from the school. They hadn't gotten a grant to make their own at the time," the other officer supplied.

"Yeah, it was at the Las Vegas Public Park, which is literally up the road from the school," Greg nodded.

"Then he went the original field," Prentiss agreed. "I'll call Hotch on our way there." With a nod from Morgan, the four left the house, running as they made their way to the SUVs parked outside.

~* WL *~

"You don't look all that different, you know," Liales suddenly said. He turned to Spencer and examined his features. "I always liked younger boys, though, as I'm sure you remember."

"So it wasn't your father who raped Nick?" Spencer asked, trying to get some sort of information out of Liales.

"No, but he wanted to," Liales smiled. "I stopped him, of course, but no one was there to stop him from getting to me. I'm sorry I lost control, honestly; I never wanted to hurt you, but I just couldn't stop myself," he sighed.

'Damn it,' Spencer thought. 'We did figure out that Edward had been raped, but we never knew about a brother.'

"You grew up nicely, though. So pretty..." he moaned. "I promised myself I wouldn't hurt you or anyone else like that again, though. Those other kids, getting them to kill themselves, that helped; but you were still on my mind. Now that I have you, I don't know what to do, though. I know what I want to do, but I made a promise, and I'm trying my best to keep that promise." Liales turned around and crouched near bag he had set to the side. He tossed the bag at Spencer and told him to look inside. "I'm giving you the option. Which one Nick, which one?"

Spencer didn't have to look inside the bag to know what was in it. A rope, a knife, a gun. That was all Liales needed at the moment. Still, something seemed wrong, and Spencer pressed on. "What did I chose last time?"

"Rape...but I killed you anyways. The cops- they were coming, and they just couldn't know," he sighed.

"What was the name of the kid before me, Edward?" Liales raised his eyebrows, taken aback by the question. "I'm just curious, is all."

"His name was Jackson Peterson," Liales finally answered.

Spencer closed his eyes; they hadn't known about Jackson, which gave Spencer the smallest bit of hope that he hadn't received the letter yet. Trying his best to keep calm, he just nodded his head.

"So which will it be?" Liales asked.

Spencer gulped, unsure of how to answer. He knew he had to stall for time, but he also knew how little of it he had left. Suddenly, something caught the corner of his eye, and he squinted into the wooded area behind him. It was a short and small shape, and he could just barely make out the figure's moving hands as they wrapped around something shiny. The sound of a bullet clicking into its spot was unmistakable though, even if he was a few feet away. 'Jackson,' his mind sighed.

"Well, what will it be?" Liales repeated. Spencer didn't have to answer though, because within seconds, three black SUVs were pulling up behind them, and six figures in Kevlar vests were running out of the cars with loaded guns pointed in their general direction. The law enforcers inched forward, and Liales automatically turned violent again. He loaded his gun and shot a test fire in the sky, screaming at them to get back. He forced his arm around Spencer's neck and dragged him to his feet. Well aware of the fact that he couldn't move with Spencer, Liales made a bold move and aimed the gun at Spencer's forehead. Spencer's eyes quickly darted back to the field where he had seen Jackson. The boy had seemed to freeze, not moving an inch. Greg caught Spencer's gaze and nodded his head. With an approval nod from Hotch and Asiley, he made his way to the back of the field. He needed to stop the boy, and besides, he was a horrible shot.

"Edward Liales, we know what happened here," Hotch started. "We know you raped your brother on this field and then killed him when you saw the cops. We know what you did to those other children as well, and I think we both know that you need to put that gun down and let him go."

"No! You don't know anything!" he hissed back. "He HAS to die!"

"No he doesn't Edward. This man's done nothing wrong," Prentiss shouted back. Her eyes locked on Spencer for a moment, and he nodded. Prentiss cautiously walked closer to them, dropping her gun to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Liales screamed. Prentiss didn't respond, though. Instead, she took a picture from her pocket and threw it on the floor. Liales peered down to see what it was, and he frowned as he saw it. "Where'd you get that? It's mine!"

"We know that your friend there was Nick, your brother. He was seven years old in that picture, wasn't he?" Prentiss pressed on.

"Yeah, he was. We...We were at the state fair. There were so many kids, so many little kids..." Liales shivered, whether it was from fear or pleasure Prentiss wasn't sure, but she knew it was more than likely the latter.

"We know where all your other pictures are. In fact, that man right there has them in his suitcase. If you don't let this man go, then we're going to burn them," she said. She motioned for Morgan to walk forward and drop the suitcase. His eyes also met Spencer's, and they scanned over him to make sure he wasn't badly hurt. Seeming some-what satisfied the kid wasn't about to die or pass out on them, he reluctantly walked away again. "They're all in this case right here, and we know he precious they are to you. We'll make you a deal. Let him go, and we'll give them back-"

"Yeah, and be thrown in jail!" Liales spat.

"Yes, but we can say that you fully cooperated, and they'll take at least two years off your jail time. And even if you don't take the deal, killing him will only add to your jail time, maybe even put you with life without parole, and you'll never be able to see these photographs again," Prentiss bargained. She knew the man was currently delusional, and even now he was swaying to and fro. Everyone knew that he was about to pass out; most likely from accidentally taking some of the drug he gave Spencer. When he woke up again, he wouldn't remember anything that happened on the field, so they could afford to play as many bluffs as they felt deemed necessary.

Suddenly, as if on cue, Liales went down. Spencer fell to the ground opposite of him, and the four agents rushed over to the scene.

"He accidentally took the drug he gave you after the poisoning wore off. He'll be back in a few hours," Prentiss quickly explained as she undid his binds.

"Thanks," Spencer sighed. "And I figured as much." He looked around and frowned, noticing that Hotch and Asiley were currently missing. "Did they go after Greg?" he guessed.

"Yeah, they found Jackson's picture in the drawer," Prentiss nodded. Seeing the incontent look in Spencer's eyes, she sighed. "I know I shouldn't let you do this, but do you want to follow them?" Spencer didn't need to respond, and Prentiss didn't need spoken words to know that he was going to take her up on the offer. She followed the younger agent down the field as he ran toward the back forests. Within seconds, they were in the field, where they found a little back-haired boy crying and Greg grimacing on the floor.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he kept sobbing.

"It's okay Sweetie, it's not your fault," the other police officer shushed.

"I shouldn't have taken the gun! I should've known I would chicken out, anyways! And now...now, when I tried to..." he started crying harshly again before he could finish.

"Hold on Greg; the ambulance is on the way," Asiley frowned.

"What happened?" Prentiss asked.

"Greg talked Jackson down, but when he was about to pass the gun to him, he accidentally pulled the trigger. It would've his Jackson's stomach if Greg hasn't pushed him out of the way," Rossi explained.

"I couldn't let another kid die on my watch," Greg said through gritted teeth. "Not again."

Spencer frowned, and as he tried to bend to sit next to Greg, who had been shot in the arm, he groaned in pain. His stomach was killing him, as was his head, and he was getting more dizzy by the second.

"Sit down Pretty Boy; you probably have a concussion or something," Morgan suggested. Morgan helped Spencer lower himself to the floor so he could rest, and he closed his eyes. "You know you can't fall to sleep yet," he warned.

"There are new studies out debating sleeping while having a concussion. Guess what? They've proved that it's just a myth and that you won't go into a coma if it happens. And even if it was still accurate, I wasn't falling to sleep. I was merely resting my eyes," Spencer mumbled.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that, kid," Morgan smiled.

"Guys, I see them," Asiley announced. Not even a minute later, two ambulances pulled up on the grass with two gurneys on-hand. Greg was pulled up first, followed shortly by Spencer. The child was escorted toward the front for a check-up, and the remaining people were given instructions toward the hospital. Before being pulled into the ambulance, Spencer turned toward Greg, who smiled at him. He was going to ask him a question that had been bugging him, but before he could form the words, his eyes fell shut again.

~* WL *~

**So not the epic fight scene I had been expecting, but there's still at least one 'in your face' moment left. Next up: interrogations, hospital visits, and a conversation between Spencey and his oh-so wonderous 'daddy'. Oh, and we revisit the whole 'i wont let another kid die' thing with Greggo. Crap, I have indeed ripped off CSI, havent I? :) PS, I was going to call this A Shot in the Dark, but it was too spoiler-ish **


	16. Truth or Dare

**Things are pretty bad at my end right now. Sorry for the long waits; I'm honestly doing the best I can. Thnx for sticking with this; I hope it's still tolerable. **

**White Light- Truth Or Dare**

_Two Days Later: LVPD Interrogation Room_

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Morgan frowned. He knew what answer he would receive, though, and he knew that asking was pointless, but still, it was a way to fill the air with sound, and that was enough for him right now.

Rossi nodded his head as he watched Morgan and Hotch stare directly into the glass, as if they were afraid that something bad would happen, and they would have to spring into action on a moment's notice. Shaking his head, he too turned his gaze over to the glass. "It's all we've got, and it's the only way we can tell for certain how much of his memory was taken from the accidental drugging." Rossi paused, allowing himself to smrik. "And besides, it's about damn time that kid got some action."

Spencer Reid paced back and forth in the interrogation room as the man sitting next to the table stared off at the ceiling. After a few minutes of trying to convince himself that he could do it, Spencer finally sat down and cleared his throat. Liales smiled pleasantly for a moment before turning grim again, as if he had momentarily forgot his current situation. The two men locked eyes for a moment, but it didn't last long. Liales pulled out, obviously getting impatient.

"You have questions, I have answers."

"Then tell me- if you have answers, you should know the questions," Spencer replied calmly.

Liales leaned back in his seat and folded his arms across his chest. "You want me to admit that I tried killing those kids and that I successfully killed some of them. Yes, I killed all those kids. Yes, I will tell you the names of every single one of them. Yes, I am a sick, twisted mother with another thing coming to me. I'm ready for jail, agent. Please, go ahead and take me away," he smirked.

Spencer leaned forward and slapped down a stack of photos. He flipped the first one forward and motioned for Liales to look at it. "What's this little girl's name?" he asked.

"Macy Cainelle."

"And this boy?"

"Edward Shultz."

"How about this one?"

"Drew Mieghers."

Spencer flipped the last photograph over, not wavering one bit. "What about him? What's this boy's name?"

Liales' eyes scanned over the photo, a smile forming on his face. He chuckled lightly before leaning back into the chair. "Well, that boy was Spencer Reid."

"What's so special about him?" Spencer asked. He was careful to control the tone of his voice; he couldn't let the UnSub know just yet...

"He was my first kill. I had fun doing it, too. Absentee father, schizophrenic mother, severe bullying... He was a prime candidate, and he took the bait." The smile on Liales twisted face was sickening, and Spencer tried his best to remain calm. He was pleased that his voice hadn't wavered yet, and he didn't want it to start now.

Spencer sat on the table as he fished in his pocket for his credentials. He laid them in front of Liales, who looked at the FBI badge strangely. "Go ahead, open it," Spencer instructed. Liales suspiciously flipped the FBI badge flap open, and as soon as he did so, his face paled. He read and reread the name over and over, and finally he sat it down with a look that could kill.

"You're supposed to be dead. I KILLED YOU!" Liales screamed. "I sent you the fucking letter and signed it! How are you alive! I Killed you!" he raved again.

Spencer picked up his badge and slipped it back into his pocket. He leaned in closer to the angry UnSub and started whispering. "You made a misjudgement of character. My father found the letter before me, and he cared enough to stop it. He took it before I could look at it, and even though he was afraid that I had accidentally seen it, he took it back. He would've called the police on you if you hadn't been such a good forger. You made a mistake, though; you left it in the mail box. That's why you started making sure the children got it directly, isn't it? So there wouldn't be another chance for the parents to get it first. You forced those innocent children to murder themselves so you could get off! You took away their lives and devastated so many families! You're going to hell for what you did, but in the meantime, you're going to be tucked away in jail, where you'll never see another kid again!" Spencer hissed.

Suddenly, Liales whipped around from his seat, somehow managing to undo his handcuffs. As he whipped around to hit Spencer in the back of the head, Morgan and Hotch came barging through the doors. Their efforts were not needed, though, as Spencer himself had caught grasp of what Liales was about to do. The youngest agent flipped around and grabbed hold of Liales' hand. Quickly, he slammed him into the plexi-glass with all his strength. The UnSub groaned as a pair of handcuffs were put back on him.

"You deserve to die!" Liales spat at Spencer. Morgan moved his body so he would be in-between Liales and Spencer, but Spencer made his way around Morgan and back in Liales' sight.

"I got away, Liales, and so did the others. You may have killed seven kids, but do you know how many more got away?" Spencer asked coldly. Liales didn't have time to answer, though, as Morgan was already shoving the criminal out of the interrogation room. Spencer was left standing with Hotch in the interrogation room. Hotch placed his hand on Spencer's shoulder and led him out of the room.

"You've helped more than you think," Hotch sighed. "Come on; let's get out of here."

"Is Greg still at the hospital?" Spencer asked. They both knew that the question was coming, and Hotch only nodded affirmatively before walking away from his agent. Spencer knew that Hotch understood he only asked to see if he should visit him; the nod was his cue to leave. Spencer had never been great at picking up social cues, but in some instances, he did remember them if they were important enough. This, he had deemed, was one of those instances. Without a moments' hesitation, Spencer threw on his coat and jammed his hands into his pockets. Without looking back once, he left the police station.

~* WL *~

"I knew you would come," Great smiled. Spencer mimicked the expression as he entered the hospital room. He had become too well acquainted with them over the years- whether he was visiting or was being visited- and he understood how lonely it could get. He threw his coat down on the visitor's chair and sat down opposite of Greg. "It was only a few hours ago that it was you sitting here, you know," Greg sighed.

"Yeah, I remember it too well," Spencer nodded.

"Better me than you, though," Greg said. "I know that you were shot in your knee a few months ago. That must've been hell. If you went in the field and took that bullet, I have a feeling it wouldn't have just been an arm. You seem like that kind of luck, I guess," Greg joked.

"Yeah, well, I am that kind of luck, " Spencer laughed. "You know you saved that kid, right?"

"I've got the scars to prove it, too," Greg smirked. His face became sullen, though, and Spencer wordlessly wondered what was going through Greg's mind. As if sensing his uneasiness, Greg cleared his throat. "I don't need you to cheer me up; I need you to listen."

"This is about what you said back there, isn't it? About losing another kid...?" Spencer guessed.

"Yeah, that would be the one," Greg nodded. "It was...It was an official year ago last week. I've only been an officer for a year and a half, and it took me half a year to get a case involving kids. I took it, of course, because that's the type of heroic case I've been waiting for. I never...I never realized before that it meant kids were being killed. It never crossed my mind that those kid's life would be in my hands as soon as I took that case file," Greg mumbled. "A neighbor called in a complaint about a family with five adopted kids. He said that he heard crying and screaming, so we went to check it out. We thought it would be routine stuff, but it turned out differently. A week later, we came back with a search warrant, and as soon as we entered the house, the father shot at us. He hit my partner, and I called in for back-up. All but one of the kids managed to get out of the house. The youngest girl was being held hostage by her father, and he threatened to slit her throat. His hands were shaking. He was sweating. Tears were on his cheeks. The knife wasn't near her throat. I called the bluff, and I moved closer to him. He told me to stop, but I kept going. Finally, he dropped the knife." Greg paused, and a frown formed on Spencer's face. He had a feeling he knew what would happen next, but he had no idea how wrong he was. "Turns out you don't need weapons to kill someone. He...he-uh, strangled her right on the spot. Just one quick squeeze to her delicate little throat and she was dead."

"Greg, you couldn't have known-"

"But I should have. I was arrogant, and it cost a kid her life," Greg glared.

"And your captain's punished you enough," a third voice said. Greg and Spencer turned around, both of them frowning. Asiley walked into the room, a frown on his face. "I came here to apologize to you...and to congratulate you. You did good, Maeyers."

"Yes sir," Greg smirked. He turned to Spencer, who had a knowing look on his face. Nodding silently, he left the room. He could vaguely make out the sounds of the two men laughing as he shut the door behind him. As he walked out into the waiting room, two familiar forms caught his attention. He frowned as he tried to make out who they belonged to, but as they neared him, his frowned vanished. His face was straight- unreadable- as they walked closer to him.

"Let's go home, Spencer," William spoke softly, Annabelle's arm entangled with his own. "I think there's some things we need to talk about."

**~* WL *~**

**The plan now is one more chapter with no epilogue, but I might change my mind. I've been uber-busy, and I really am sorry! I hoped you all liked this; thnx for reading! Oh, and someone asked me how to pronounce Asiley and Maeyers. Ah-sigh-lee and May-jers(yours), mayors. **


	17. The End Game

**YUP, THIS IS IT- THE LAST CHAPTER! I'M MEGA-BUSY RIGHT NOW, SO MY NEXT STORY *SEE PROFILE PG* will be posted a bit later. I haven't even started it yet, an d I still wanted to give your guys some sort of Christmas story, and I have an idea I've been toying with. Thnx for reading everyone; I'm so glad you all stuck with it up until the very end! **

**White Light-Endings aren't always Happy….(but they're not always bitter)**

No one had really been aware of the date until Garcia said she was leaving. A frown on their faces, everyone asked why- they only had to stay one more day in Vegas; why the rush? She had pointed toward a calendar and shook her head. Without another word, she picked up her suitcase, mumbling about missing her flight back to Kevin's hometown. It had taken a moment for the others to catch on, but when they did, they couldn't help but frown. It was December 23rd, and if they didn't leave by nightfall, they'd never make it back before Christmas Eve. 'At least we won't miss Christmas', Prentiss thought. Another thought popped in her head, and she quickly whipped out her cell phone and dialed the number she had in mind.

"Hello?"

"You know it's the 23rd, don't you?" she asked. The pause on the other end made her smile a bit- turns out that even eidetic memories can be fooled.

"Why don't you guys take off?" It wasn't the reply she had been expecting, and although tempted to take the offer, she knew she couldn't leave Spencer alone to finish up the case. "I'm serious, Emily. I was thinking about staying here for the holidays, anyways." He hesitated for a moment, and if she had been talking to anyone but Reid, she would have taken it as her cue to reply. "My family's here." Still, she could sense what words were lingering in his mind, words like reconnect, talk things out, and even unfinished business. She knew better than to expect him to speak them verbally, though, so instead of arguing, she just nodded her head and sighed.

"All right; I'll tell Hotch to get the jet ready."

~* WL *~

"Who was that?" William Reid frowned. "Are you sure you want to stay?"

Spencer had taken William and Annabelle's offer for a dinner at his father's house, and now they were in his Christmas-decorated living room sitting on his maroon-red couches. 'He never used to decorate for Christmas; why the sudden change?' he dully thought. He pushed away his thoughts to focus on his father's question, and he found himself merely nodding his head as an answer.

"Spencer, why didn't you tell me that things were so bad at school? I could have helped you-"

"You left, Dad, and even if I had seen the letter, I would have tried…would have tried _it _anyways. The only part you had on that day when I was in the field was leaving, and even if you had stayed, I still would have done it." Spencer wasn't sure if his words were meant to be reassuring or dismissing, but even if they did mean something else entirely, his point had been made. Reluctantly, he sighed and leaned back on his father's couch. He was tired of speaking about his troubled past, and all he wanted to do now was change the subject. An idea came to mind, but he wasn't sure of what kind of reaction it would trigger. He looked from his father to Annabelle, and he was suddenly reassured that his plan would work.

"So how long have you been seeing Annabelle?"

The older adults lowered their eyes to their glasses as Annabelle shook her head. "I told you he would catch on- he's a profiler for god's sake!" she scolded.

"I'm sorry, Spencer, but with everything that was going on, I just wasn't sure if I should tell you yet or wait until things were a little more normal," William placed his glass cup on the table and almost smiled. "Well, you know now, and that's all that matters."

"It's okay, I really do understand. If I were in your position, I probably wouldn't have, either," Spencer nodded.

"How about we go out tonight?" Annabelle suggested. "You know, get to know each other better. It's Las Vegas, I mean, so everything's still open. There's plenty we could do," she half-smiled. William nodded in agreement before Annabelle turned to face Spencer. "What about you? You up to it?"

"Uh, my team still has a few things we need to go over about the case before heading home- you know, paperwork and all. I'd love to go, but since I'm staying for Christmas, we could do it tomorrow…?" Spencer suggested. He was only half lying- honestly! His team did have things to go over, but they were things that he had agreed to do himself; besides, they had all left by now. There was something that he had to do before leaving, though, and he had a feeling that he needed to go now or he wouldn't be able to.

"Oh, that's fine," Annabelle smiled- this time, though, it was sincere; genuine even. She stood up with the younger man and escorted him to the door. "I hope to see you soon, Spencer."

"Yeah, me too," he said.

"Don't be a stranger; come around when you're ready," William added. With a final round of good-byes, Spencer walked away.

~* WL *~

"You shouldn't be here."

The man kneeling above the grave jumped in surprise, but Spencer pretended not to notice. He continued walking the few feet that separated them until he was side-by-side with him, facing the grave.

"I need to let this go," Greg sighed. "I can't live with her haunting me."

"I bet if she were here, she'd agree," Spencer nodded. "It wasn't your fault she died, but I know what it feels like to think it is. It's not healthy, and you're one-hundred percent right- you do need to let this go."

Greg let out a shaky breath as he lowered his good hand closer to the grave. Spencer just then noticed the white rose located in the unsteady hand, but he kept quiet. He was only there to support Greg, not tell him how to let go. It was different for every case- every victim- and that was a fact that Spencer was too aware of by now. The dainty flower slipped out from his hand, and they watched as it landed in front of the tombstone. Greg shoved his hands in his pockets and closed his eyes as he nodded his head to and fro. A few seconds later, they were open again, and he turned to face Spencer. "All right. I think I'm ready now." Spencer mumbled something in response, but they were both too preoccupied to notice what the word was.

Silently, the two law enforcers walked from the graveyard with a slow stride. Neither of them was in any hurry, after all, and since they were in Las Vegas, they didn't have to worry about the cold too much. After several minutes of walking around the cemetery, they reached the gates. They paused before returning to their cars, nodding gratefully.

"I appreciate that, Spencer. It really does mean a lot to mean," Greg said seriously. The playful tones were gone from his voice now, and even his attire-black and neon- had somewhat altered in the black tuxeodo. Spencer himself nodded as well, and as he opened his door, he replied with a thanks of his own. Greg too opened his door, a frown on his face. "What did I help you with?"

Spencer sighed before hesitatingly answering. He tried to be as vague as possible, and he was almost positive he had succeeded, too. "We all have a case like this, Greg, a turning point. It won't be your last one- trust me- but it will get easier when you realize how to deal with them. You wouldn't understand my predicament, but just know that you helped me cross some bridges of my own."

"I suppose I can respect that," Greg nodded. "Will I see you again?

Spencer just smiled as he nodded his head. "And even if we don't meet in person, you have my phone and email. We'll keep in touch, yes." With a reassured smile from Greg, the two men slammed their doors shut and drove away.

~* WL *~

William Reid answered the door with a smile on his face, but as soon as the door fully exposed who laid in waiting on the other side, his smile turned to a straight face. He knew his son wasn't in the mood for merry-making quite yet, and he would respect that much, at least. Annabelle joined him a few seconds later wearing a similar expression.

"I think I'm ready now."

The End

**That was it everyone! I really hoped you guys liked it. I know it was a bit rushed, but I really want to start my holiday story before Christmas, and I've got some things going on in RL. Thnx for sticking with it- Happy Holidays! **


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